a/n: A bit longer of a chapter :D Thanks for waiting! I've been listening to this bop for DAYS on repeat.

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"It's about thirty miles to Vincent's place from here," Kass said from the front seat of the Corvette. They were parked in a sandy lakeside parking lot after spending the morning at the car wash while the rest of their friends watched from afar, shaking their heads at the fact that they were preparing to commit an actual felony. Whilst washing the car, Maze, Declan, and Bryan all felt vaguely like they were being scolded by their parents for taking the family car mudding rather than a bunch of millennials judging them.

Kass dialed the odometer back to the number it was at whilst sitting in the garage back at Vincent's house and then subtracted another thirty. When that was done clicking, she sat back and said, "Alright, done. No joy-rides on the way, got it?"

"Yes! Thank you, Kass," Maze said, and Kass gave her a sharply disgusted look like Maze had just told her to go fuck herself.

"Thanks for doing this, dude," Declan said as Kass stepped out of the car, muttering, "Whatever." As she turned away, Declan spun around to Maze, thrilled, smiling wider than Maze had ever seen. She laughed and barely managed to prepare herself before he threw himself at her and spun the two of them around from the momentum.

Maze teetered, arms slung around his shoulders as he cheered, "We fucking did it! Week one on our track to victory!" He thrust a fist up like a superhero, one arm still squeezed tight around Maze's waist.

Kass gave them a thoroughly repulsed look and said, "Disgusting."

Maze caught her smile faltering. Kass' comment felt too genuine to be joking, and for a brief second, her heart fluttered painfully in her chest. Did I do something wrong?

Declan stuck his tongue out at Kass, though, and it made Maze wonder if she had just misinterpreted something.

Kass walked off and the moment she did, Maze found herself yearning for the next time they'd see each other. Maybe they could hang out during Kass' lunch breaks, or Maze could even deliver food from the diner. Maybe they'd hang out by the river after work tomorrow, or preferably sooner. It'd been a while since she had snuck onto Kass' roof at night—but Kass didn't live at the Lyons' household anymore.

Maze thought about it all through the drive back, all through that night she spent lying awake in her adolescent bedroom. There, she would stare at posters of her favorite bands and movies from high school as the light pollution from Chicago and the street lamps turned the slanted ceiling into a hazy blue.

And then, the sun came up and Maze threw her blankets down. She sat up in her bed and stared across the room where her mini box TV from middle school sat collecting dust over her plethora of old game consoles.

If she was going to hang out with Kass in here, the thought of being surrounded by all of her childish aesthetics made her almost too embarrassed to cope. Who even knew if Kass liked this shit anymore anyway? They hadn't even covered those bases yet—what bands Kass listened to now, if she still played Legend of Zelda, if she still had all the maps they had drawn together. Maybe Kass didn't even play video games now. Maze got to work. Besides, her shift wouldn't start until ten.

Her ma was awake and making coffee when Maze came down hauling the twin mattress she didn't even fit on down the stairs. She carried it over one shoulder, awkwardly squeezing it through the archway as Eleanor stared from the kitchen, eyes wide.

"Morning," Maze said.

"Any... particular reason why you're carrying your mattress?" she said.

She perched it against the living room couch, slightly out of breath. She put a hand on her hip and said, "I'm thinking about swapping it for the guest bedroom bed. Since I don't really fit on this one."

"Seems like you've done all your thinking on it," she commented, and before Maze could express any form of guilt she might have, her ma smiled. "Just make sure you wash the sheets and comforter on that twin."

She beamed and, on her way to grab a mug of coffee, gave her ma a quick kiss on the temple. "Thanks Ma."

She hauled all the blankets out of the room followed by the bed frame, her desk from middle school, and the tubs of plushies from elementary school from the room. She shed the striped purple curtains, coughing at the dust. She pushed every aching ton of her dresser out of the room, gritting her teeth, socks slipping on the carpet. And then, she scanned the room like a lawn mower on a baseball field with her ma's extra-powerful vacuum. She apologized for every poster she peeled off of her ceiling and stacked them gingerly together before rolling them all up into a neat tube and tied it with a rubber band.

And there she stood in her empty childhood bedroom, studying the model cars she and Kass had built and painted together. They were all lining the walls that weren't slanted on stained wood her father had mounted on brackets.

Maze laid the posters on top of the dresser out in the hallway so she could gently remove each of the models from the shelf. She dusted the shelves, the models, and laid them all back into place.

That afternoon, Maze prepared a text for Kass only to remember that... Kass had blocked her, and there was no telling whether or not her number was still blocked. There was no telling if Kass even had the same number. Maze looked up from behind the bar, sighing, and ultimately decided that it would just be easier to head over to the motor shop anyway.

Thus was how Maze could be found skating her way across Hiromichi's lot carrying a togo order for Mr. Peters and Kass. Kass, who was crouched before a bright blue car with a mask over her face, goggles on her eyes, and an airbrush gun in hand. Country music was blasting on the speakers so Maze had to shout over it to be heard. "Hey! I brought food!"

She wasn't heard, nor was she seen, and since Kass seemed thoroughly invested in the paint job, Maze glided behind her on her way to Mr. Peters' office.

She rolled up, dodging a crate of supplies on the way, and knocked on the open door. There was a customer standing at the counter Maze had seen her father at thousands of times before, but rather than Hiromichi, Mr. Peters was there looking startled to see Maze.

"Hey, kid, what're you doing here?" he said, leaning his elbows against the countertop.

Maze slid in, smiling at the customer as she held up a bag to Mr. Peters. "Just wanted to stop by and drop off some food from my ma's place," she said. "She said you like the rueben, and I know Kass can never go wrong with Ma's wraps."

Thrilled, Mr. Peters rubbed his hands together and accepted the sandwich box, beaming ear-to-ear. "That's nice of you—Tell Eleanor I say thanks. And do me a favor and tell Kass to take it easy. The kid always ends up working through lunch," he said, and waved Maze off with a smile.

Maze was more than willing to make that promise. She skated out into the garage where Kass was finishing off the top coat. Maze waited until Kass set the airbrush aside, at which point Maze leant into her view and held up the togo bag.

Kass did a double-take, her eyes wide behind the goggles and mouth covered by the mask.

"I brought food!" Maze shouted over the music, giving the bag a shake.

Kass shucked the mask off over her head, sweeping her ponytail through the strap. Her hair fell in a curtain over her shoulder. There were goggle and masks lines red on her forehead and cheeks, and she only answered after tugging off her gloves to reach for the bag.

"I'm kinda busy, but thanks," she said.

Maze put her hands on her hips as Kass tossed the bag back onto the table behind her. "Yeah, but my lunch is in there too. Am I just supposed to eat it all by myself?"

Kass rose an incredulous eyebrow at her. Maze rose one back.

Kass sighed and slapped down her gloves. She set the mask aside and said, "Fine. Whatever. Let's get outta here."

Maze thrust her fists up in victory, only to yank them back down and feign innocence when Kass glanced back at her. They left the garage in favor of occupying the back of Kass' truck out in the lot and away from Mr. Peters' potentially prying eyes and ears. They could still hear the country music from there, and Kass rolled her eyes at it.

Maze grinned. "Still not a fan?"

"What, of forty year old white dudes talking about girls in their pickups?" Kass said.

Maze leant back against the bump where the back tire was. "If those songs were performed by women, would that change your opinion?"

Kass paused, water bottle to her lips. She pulled it back to say, "No," before downing a few gulps of water as Maze laughed.

"I meant to text you before stopping over here," Maze confessed, drawing Kass' eyes back to her. "I wasn't sure if you had... unblocked my number."

"Oh, shit. Right," she said, pulling out her phone. After a minute spent sifting through her phone, Maze's number was cleared. Maze sent her a smiley face just to check, to which Kass responded with the middle finger. "There," she said.

"Thanks," Maze said.

Kass said nothing and instead went back to eating. Maze scrolled up from their emote exchange and all it took was one swipe to find the storm of blue texts that went unread for years. The last one was dated back around New Years when she got drunk at a party. This was before everything that had happened, and she couldn't even count the number of times she had wanted Kass to text her after January—not that she would have been able to respond, what with her fucked up hands at the time. The fact that Kass never reached out convinced Maze to stop bothering.

"Why didn't you ever text me this year?" Maze asked, voice quiet. When she lowered her phone to her lap, Kass stared at it and the walls of blue text bubbles on the screen.

Kass reached a hand out and said, "Lemme see."

Maze considered for half a second to let Kass read all of her embarrassing texts from over the years. She held her phone back and said, "They're just—They're kind of incoherent. But I kind of expected you to message me after what happened."

"What, as if I could?" Kass said. Maze tipped her head to the side, confused. "Dude, we weren't on that page. And I thought you woulda moved on by then. You should have moved on."

Maze could have laughed. Instead, she scoffed, held up her phone at a distance, and swiped far enough for Kass to see just how many times Maze had "moved on".

"Yeah, because this looks like I moved on," she said. Her throat tightened, and judging by the slight panic in Kass' face, she wondered if it looked like she was .2 seconds away from bursting into tears. "Aside from my parents, you were always the most important person in my life. How could you even say that I'd 'move on'?"

"That isn't—" Kass started, shaking her head. She set her wrap aside, one knee pulled up so she could lean against it and say, "That doesn't even compare. I told you I was cutting you off. You can't just hold on to something that doesn't want to be held."

"Even if we weren't on the same page back then—And I didn't—" Maze insisted, only to falter at the incredulous way Kass rose her eyebrow. Like Maze was acting childish again. She ducked her head and stressed every word against her knuckles on the truck floor. "I don't understand why romantic relationships are more significant. You're just invalidating the way I feel about you."

"So you're telling me that if I told you to tell Bryan to go fuck himself, you'd pick him over me," Kass said.

"No," Maze cried, and she could feel the hysteria rising above the walls she had built up to stay calm and neutral. "I wish I could—fucking word this better. I couldn't even get it across back then and you'd think it'd be so much easier four years from then. Christ."

"To be fair, I wouldn't say that to you," Kass said. "To tell Bryan to go fuck himself."

"That's not the point," Maze groaned, hands over her face. "I just—I wish you could understand how—If there's a point system. And your friends all get two points for being your friend, and your parents get—let's say three points, unless you have a shitty relationship with your parents, in which case they get one point. But my parents get two points because I love them—"

"Okay, I get it. I can do math," Kass said.

"Right, sorry," Maze said, letting out a shaky breath. "Best friends have three points."

"Okay, then what do partners have."

"Three points," she said, and Kass snorted. "And then marriage gets four points."

Kass laughed and said, "Fuck off, no it doesn't."

"Why is that so funny? I'm fucking serious—"

"Yeah, I know, but it's fucking ridiculous. It's literally impossible to have everyone on the same relationship tier. If your friends are two, parents one, best friends at three, then your partner has to be at six."

"But that's so unfair and unrealistic," Maze said. "And where the hell did you get the number six?"

"Because your partner has to be your best friend," Kass said. Maze stared at her. Kass was wearing a smug, crooked grin that showed off her sharp canines. "And if partners get three, and best friends get three, then your girlfriend gets six points. End of discussion."

"But I don't like that," Maze said as Kass took the last bite of her sandwich.

"Tough nuts, dude," she said, mouth full. "Marriage is a construct anyway. It's for sentimental ass wipes and people who need tax benefits."

"Wha—No it isn't! Now you're just being intentionally dense," Maze called after her as Kass hopped off of the truck and thanked her for the meal. Maze wondered if Bryan would agree with her. She'd have to corroborate this story with Bryan later, which she did the moment she got out of work and requested Bryan's help to move the guest bedroom mattress up.

"I can't believe you told her that girlfriends get three points," Bryan said.

"I don't see what's so wrong with that," Maze said. "Everyone makes such a fuss about 'hoes before bros' and 'if your friends don't like your boyfriend, maybe you should listen to them' and 'people who abandon all their friends for their significant other are—'"

"Yeah, there's a fine line," he insisted, and the two of them paused, out of breath, and teetering the mattress on the stairs. Bryan huffed, hand on his hip, and explained, "But you're tying everything up into a knot, dude. You gotta compartmentalize this shit or else you'll fuck yourself over down the road."

"I don't think so," Maze said, and Bryan leant over to stare at her. Maze shook her head, baffled. "What, so I'm just supposed to put all my eggs in one basket?"

"Are you suggesting polyamory?"

"No! That's not at all what I'm saying!" she said, and couldn't help but laugh. She collapsed against the wall, laughing her ass off until she could find the words to say, "So what you're telling me is that I need to prioritize Kass over you? That doesn't sound right to me."

"Give me a scenario and I'll tell you if it's socially acceptable," Bryan said. Maze just stared at him. "Dude, I'm fucking serious. Give me a scenario where you'd have to pick between the two of us and I'll tell you the limits since you don't have any right now." 

"This is ridiculous," Maze groaned.

"You're fucking ridiculous, but we already established that. Now come on."

"Fine. Uh... Kass and I have plans for dinner with her estranged grandmother who's terminally ill and is only here for one night and it's the last time we'll be able to see her, but then you get in a car accident and can't call your mom about it—"

"Jesus fucking Christ," Bryan sighed, shaking his head. He put his hand on his hip and said, "Uh... alright. You pick Kass for that one."

"What the fuck? No!"

"What's your damage, dude? What the fuck would you do in that situation?!"

"I'd pick up Kass and the grandma and we'd go to the scene of the crime or the hospital, wherever you are."

"Oh my God, you can't just take Kass' hypothetical, estranged, terminally ill grandma on a joyride to the hospital—"

"Fine, then explain to me why abandoning you is morally right."

"Because logically, I would have called Brielle or Willa after you to take me to the hospital," Bryan said, and Maze fell dumb for not realizing that sooner. Of course Bryan would—Maze wasn't the only damn person in his life. "Because if I don't want my mom knowing, then I wouldn't call 911, because the ambulance bill would piss her off even more."

"Oh," Maze said. "But what if we had plans for dinner with your estranged, terminally ill grandma and Kass got into a car accident?"

"Then you'd go to Kass."

Maze threw her head back and screamed, "What?! Holy shit, the hypocrisy—!"

"It's not that hard to understand!"

"And why are we framing this like I'm even dating Kass right now. We haven't even talked about labels," Maze insisted, which opened an entirely different can of worms that had Bryan hollering incoherently into the abyss.

They argued about terminally ill grandparents and Kass getting into an accident for the entire duration of the bed transportation. Ultimately, they decided that they needed someone with relationship experience to decide what the proper course of action was.

"I think you're fucked either way," Willa said over the phone, to which Bryan sighed, "Well thanks for nothing."

"I don't understand though—Are you dating someone now, dude?" Luckily, they hadn't framed Kass' name into the narrative.

"No, I'm not. I'm just arguing with a dumbass right now," Bryan said, gesturing to Maze like Willa could even see.

"Oh," Willa hummed. "Is Maze there?"

Maze threw her arms down and groaned, "Yes, I'm here, and I can fucking hear you."

"Oh, sick. Hey, dude."

Maze stepped up to the phone, pushing Bryan out of the way to say, "So you're telling me that the best friend is just as important, right?" Bryan slapped a hand over his face.

Willa's breath crackled over the speaker as she sighed. "Man... this isn't fair. Like, if I was dating a guy... No, wait, scratch that. If Kassandra gets in a car accident, we all know that motherfucker's surviving the impact, no cap, but if she needs the car towed or something, obviously I'd be there. You know what I'm saying? Logically I have access to the best vehicle to tow it and wouldn't charge her an arm and a leg for it." Willa's grandpa worked in construction for the county and had the resources to haul machinery—including but not limited to Kass' hypothetically totaled truck.

"But your boyfriend would be pissed, though," Bryan said.

"If my boyfriend's pissed about me helping a bro out, is he really my guy? I'm not dating his grandma, now am I, you motherfucker—"

"Bro, what the fuck? That's not how this works—" Bryan started, laughing in horror.

"So you're telling me to abandon my Bro Code for some dick? Fuck that. I know everyone's like, 'You're dating the girl, not her friends,' but, like, if my bros are sus about him, why would I hang on to that toxicity?"

"What if your guy is sus about your bros? What then?" Bryan said, and before Willa could even reply, Bryan went on. "How would you know if your bros are toxic if your boyfriend doesn't point it out."

"You come onto my landline and insult my Bro Code? Right in front of my salad?"

"You don't even have a landline anymore—"

"All I'm saying is that Kassandra and Grace are hands down ride-or-die for me."

"Quote that and slap it in your memoir."

"Maybe I will!"

"Fucking do it. You won't."

"Try me, you bitch!"

Willa hung up on them.

Bryan turned to look at Maze, who's head was spinning so much that she had to lie down on the freshly made bed in the middle of the room. She stared at the ceiling even as Bryan collapsed across from her, jostling the mattress.

After a moment, Maze said, "Agree to disagree?"

Bryan sighed. "For now."