"Just getting out of bed?" Demetrius, Sebastian's step-dad, glanced up at him over a microscope.

"Yeah, I had a deliverable the client wanted this morning, so I stayed up to finish it," answered Sebastian.

Demetrius shook his head. "That's why you can't procrastinate; you don't want to leave these things to the last minute."

Sebastian didn't feel like arguing. "Okay," he said, but it came out more petulantly than he meant it.

Demetrius looked up and took his goggles off. "Don't take that tone with me, Sebastian."

There was no winning at this point. Damn, he just wanted to grab some food before going out, but now there was no chance of that. Sebastian didn't bother responding, he just turned and headed out the door.

Let Demetrius get as mad as he liked, he didn't need to be there to see it. He'd just get something to eat at the Stardrop Saloon, even if he was tired of spaghetti.

Sebastian lit a cigarette as he walked through town. His mom kept trying to get him to at least smoke out of sight of the villagers, but he didn't care right now. Let them talk.

Maru was sitting on the bench outside the saloon, and it looked like she was sitting with Penny-had they always been friends? Sebastian didn't bother greeting his sister, he just snubbed out his cigarette on the lid of the trash can and went inside.

"Spaghetti, please, Gus," Sebastian said to the friendly man behind the bar.

"You got it, Sebastian; I'll bring it over."

Sam was already racking the balls on the pool table, and Abigail was lounging on a worn out couch, doodling on her arm with a permanent marker.

"Trying to get some extra practice, Sam?" Sebastian said with a smirk.

"Hey, I'll beat you one of these days. You know what they say, practice, practice, practice."

Abigail laughed. "If that were true, our band would sound a lot better."

"Hey, my playing sounds great," Sam protested. "I don't know what you two have been up to."

"He's got a point there," Sebastian said. "Now are we going to keep talking, or are you ready for me to kick your ass at pool?"

They played twice. Sebastian won both times, but Sam did a little better the second time around. On the other side of the bar, Pam was getting louder than usual, so much so they could hear her over all the music and chatter.

"Gus! Pour me another!" she shouted.

"That's enough Pam," Gus said, "I don't want to have to carry you out of here."

Pam laughed. "Oh please, like you've ever had to do that."

Gus didn't respond, and Pam said, "Aw come on, it's getting hot this time of year, and I'm thirsty."

Sebastian couldn't hear what happened next, but Gus must have relented, because Pam found herself with another glass soon enough. Sam shook his head, sticking his tongue into his cheek, which he did sometimes when he was annoyed.

"Up for another game?" Sebastian asked.

"Nah," Sam said, "Let's just get out of here."

They put down their cues and walked out.

"Goodnight guys," Abigail said before heading up to her house.

"Night," Sam said. He waved, then said, "Goodnight Penny."

Sebastian realized she was still sitting on the bench, though Maru had gone home. Contrary to what her mother, Pam, had said, it was still pretty chilly at night, and Penny hadn't brought a jacket. Sebastian was hit by a sudden pang of something; was it pity? Or maybe it was whatever he'd felt when he saw her crying on the pier the other day.

He started the walk back up the hill to his house, but something made him stop. Penny was going to sit on that bench until her mom came out, wasn't she. And Pam was drunker than usual tonight.

Sebastian groaned. Demetrius had already been mad at him that afternoon, he'd be pissed if he saw Sebastian come home in the middle of the night.

Still, Sebastian turned around and walked back to the saloon. He didn't go in, he just stood behind the building and leaned against the wall.

He didn't really know what his plan was. Was he just watching? Was he going to help? All Sebastian knew was that he'd feel like shit if he went home and left the situation as it was.

Slowly the bar emptied out. It had to be past closing now. Sebastian thought he must have missed Pam leaving, until he heard Gus say, "Alright, Pam, nice and easy down the stairs. There ya go, we don't want you to trip."

Pam slurred out a laugh.

"Got her, Penny?" Gus asked.

"Um-" Penny said, and Sebastian could hear her grunt, struggling under the weight.

Sebastian rounded the corner and saw Gus still holding up one of Pam's arms.

"I've got it, Gus," Sebastian said quietly, and he bent down to take the barkeep's place.

"Hey, thanks, son," Gus said, patting him on his back. Penny didn't say anything, she just looked at the ground and focused on keeping her mom from falling over.

Gus went back inside, and Penny and Sebastian slowly, awkwardly, carried Pam back to the trailer. She seemed to be asleep now, and could do almost nothing to support herself.

"I've got it from here," Penny said when they reached the door, but she very clearly didn't have it, so Sebastian shook his head.

"No, it's alright."

Together they clumsily got Pam through the door and onto the couch.

Sebastian had never been inside the trailer. It was small and outdated, and while the kitchen was spotless, the tables and chairs were covered in papers and empty cans. Under the fluorescent light, Sebastian could see that Penny was red as a tomato from her cheeks and ears to her chest, and she couldn't look up at him.

Yoba, this wasn't fair to her.

"Thank you," she said. Then she started frantically moving things around, straightening papers and picking up cans.

"It's no problem."

"She doesn't usually drink so much; this doesn't normally happen."

Sebastian nodded. He was about to leave, but Pam slurred, "Who's there? Who's in my house?" She sat up and tried to stand.

Penny's eyes went wide and she pointed hurriedly to the door on the other side of the kitchen.

Please hide, she mouthed. I'm sorry, please.

"Did you let someone in the house, Penny?" Pam said. "You know I don't like-" she stumbled and caught herself on a chair.

Penny went to her. "No, mom, it's just us, don't worry."

Now Sebastian couldn't leave without being in Pam's line of sight, so he did as Penny asked and went into the other room. In appearance, it was the complete opposite of the rest of the trailer. The walls were pale pink, and it looked like Penny had hand-painted roses. If anything, the room was too neat. Her bed was made primly, and the bookshelves, though overfull, were very well organized. Other than the furniture and a houseplant, there wasn't much else in the room.

"Here, drink some water," he heard Penny say to her mom. It looked like he might be stuck there for a while, so he went over to the shelf. She had a pretty wide selection, but most of it wasn't his taste. Especially history and literature. And the teaching guides. But she had a decent sci-fi and fantasy collection, and even some of his favorites.

Penny walked in the room behind him.

"You've got the Solarion Chronicles," he said, picking it up off the shelf.

"Yeah, it's really good, isn't it? I've read it like three times." She smiled as he looked at it.

Who knew this girl had such good taste? Sebastian nodded and flipped through the pages. "Have you ever played the game? Sam and I-" Something fell out of the pages; a bookmark. Sebastian bent to pick it up. It was a flower that had been dried and laminated.

As quickly as he had picked it up, Penny plucked it from his hand. She took the book too, and in a second they were both back on the shelf.

"No, I haven't," she said decidedly. "I think you can leave now, let me just check."

She walked out of the room and came back a second later, waving for him to follow.

The lights were off now, and they hurried to the front door. Pam didn't stir. They stepped outside and Penny shut the door gently, turning the handle so it wouldn't make any noise.

"I'm really sorry about all this, Sebastian," she said. "Thank you for helping."

"You really don't have anything to apologize for."

"She had a hard week...I don't want you to get the wrong impression of her."

Sebastian couldn't say he believed her, but Penny was looking up at him so earnestly that he wanted to reassure her. After some hesitation, he put a hand on the side of her arm. "Don't worry. It was nothing, really. Goodnight, Penny."

She nodded and went back inside. Sebastian began the long walk back up the mountain.

As expected, Sebastian's mom and Demetrius weren't too thrilled with him the next day for coming home at two in the morning. It was the second late night in a row, and he had a meeting with his client in the morning. At least Sam and Abby came over in the afternoon to salvage a bad day.

"We're still on for Solarion Chronicles tomorrow, right?" Sam asked while absentmindedly playing a game on Sebastian's second computer.

Sebastian nodded, but his mind was on other things. Maybe it was because he was tired, maybe it was because he couldn't stop thinking about the night before. "Why don't you ever bring Penny around to hang out?" he asked suddenly.

"Well, that's out of left field," Sam said. "Weren't you just saying I shouldn't lead her on, or whatever?"

He had a point, but Sebastian waved it off. He wasn't trying to set them up, it was just weird that he treated her like some kind of platonic side piece. "No, I don't mean like that. I mean you've supposedly been great friends with her for ages. But you only hang out with her one-on-one. It's like you don't want us to get to know her."

Sam looked confused and more than a little annoyed. "What's stopping you guys from getting to know her on your own? It's a small town, it's not that hard. Besides, I thought you two wouldn't want someone new hanging around."

Abigail nodded. "Yup, that's about right."

Normally, Sebastian would agree. He hated having to hang out with people he didn't know. But he couldn't shake the feeling that this whole situation was odd. Other than Abby and Sebastian, Penny was the person Sam was closest to. And he was probably the person she was closest to.

"I just think it's a little rude to exclude her all the time," Sebastian said.

"What, do you want me to invite her over for Solarion Chronicles?" Sam asked sarcastically, expecting Sebastian to backtrack.

He wouldn't. "Sure, why not? She likes the book, she might like the game."

Sam sputtered an astonished laugh.

"Who are you, and what have you done with Sebby?" Abigail asked. "And how do you even know that?"

"What, is it so weird to talk to the neighbors?" Sebastian asked. "I'm not that anti-social."

"Could have fooled me," said Abigail.

"Fine, have it your way. I'll ask her to come," Sam said. "But only if you invite someone else to make her more comfortable. Maru."

Now it was Sebastian's turn to laugh in surprise. "What? You don't seriously want Maru hanging around."

"Why not?" Sam challenged.

"She's a nice kid, what's the big deal?" Abigail added.

Sebastian didn't have the energy to begin to explain why it would be a big deal to invite Maru. They didn't exactly have a close sibling bond.

"Fine. Whatever." He sighed. "But she'll probably say no."

"It can't hurt to ask, right?" Sam smirked.

Sebastian sighed. "I'll be right back."

He got up and climbed the stairs to the main part of the house. He was hoping Demetrius would be out and Maru would be in her room, but he had no such luck; they were both working in the lab.

"Hey, Maru..." he started.

"Just a second." Maru didn't look up from her beaker, she just kept swirling it, writing down little notes, and adding drops of something. Sebastian leaned on the doorframe. It felt like forever.

"Sorry," she said after a minute, setting down the equipment. "What's up?"

"Oh, um...We could use an extra player for the Solarion Chronicles tomorrow, would you be willing to play?"

She thought for a moment, then said, "Sure, but I have work tomorrow. Can I come after I'm done at the clinic?"

Well that was a surprise. Sebastian didn't think Maru had any interest in anything remotely fictional. "Yeah, we normally start late anyway."

Demetrius chimed in, "Now don't keep her up too late, Sebastian, we're at a critical stage in this research."

"Yeah, you got it." Sebastian replied as cheerily as he could muster, and went back to his room to report his success.