Weeks flew by faster than I could keep up with them, and before I knew it, spring break had finally rolled around.

I never got Caroline to confess the truth to me about her situation with the twins, but I knew she was in hot water. She continued to suddenly disappear from campus, then show up again. Drew said Caroline didn't even go to any classes anymore.

Whether there was an investigation going on or not, something was up, and while I was sure that our vacation was her chance to forget about it all, I wasn't going to let that happen. No one was going to stop me from getting to the bottom of the mystery.

Viktor, Caroline, Drew, and I all returned home to Bloomington that Saturday, and Blaine and Arti were to arrive soon. Matt and I divided up the work. I would get Arti and Blaine with Caroline and Drew, and Matt and Viktor would make sure we had everything necessary for a week nearly five hours away in Janesville, Wisconsin.

Neither one of us would acknowledge it, but we both knew it was a goddamn race. We were competitive siblings.

"All my stuff's in my room. Don't forget it, please. I already have enough space taken up in my car with everyone," I said to Matt.

"Don't worry about it. Viktor and I have this shit under control."

"Are you excited to finally get away from your housewife duties?" I asked.

Matt laughed. "A little, yeah. I really missed Viktor."

I smiled. They were just too fucking cute.

"You guys deserve it. It's been a rough few months, hasn't it?" I said.

"No shit. Just don't keep him all to yourself, okay?" Matt said.

"Don't worry. You and I have been through all that shit before. He's your person, not mine."

Matt smiled. "He's yours too. He has been for a while now."

Just the thought of that was enough to bring a smile to my face. "I'll see you in Wisconsin. Don't speed so you'll get there first."

"I don't have to speed. You're a fucking grandma. We'll be lucky if you get there by this evening," he said with a laugh.

"Call me a grandma one more time, and I won't give you any candy from my purse, and I'll beat you with my cane."

"Grandma has finally snapped. I better watch out." Matt laughed.

"You better," I said, then went to go find Caroline and Drew.

They were sitting in the living room with Viktor and the triplets, and Drew stared into Tara the tarantula's cage.

"She's not dead, sweetie. Don't worry. She's just molting. A spider's skeleton is on the outside, so in order for it to grow, it needs to shed that exoskeleton every once in a while. She's really vulnerable right now since there's nothing to protect her, so you shouldn't feed her or move her cage," Drew said.

"Oh, thank goodness. I thought I killed her," Leah said.

Drew looked up at her with a smile. "Nope. She's a growing spider, that's all." She turned to Natalie. "You were right. Everything's fine."

"Okay, good. It's the first time she's molted, so I just wasn't certain," Natalie said.

Leah looked up at me and smiled. "Good news. Tara's not dead."

"Fantastic," I muttered, then spoke up. "We really need to get going now. We have to get Blaine and Arti, and we have to get to Wisconsin before Matt and Viktor. I'm not about to lose to them."

"Where are they? Your friends, I mean," Drew asked.

"They're at Blaine's house. It's not too far from here. We'll get them, then we're heading out," I replied. "Let's go."

The desire to vomit was back, and I had no choice but to assume that this reunion was bothering me the whole time.

"Amanda, wait." Melissa grasped for my wrist, and I stopped for a moment to give her a chance to speak. She looked up at me and frowned. "You look pale."

"I'll be okay. I just don't feel so good," I said.

She nodded slowly. "Hang in there, okay?"

I put on a smile. "I always do. I love you guys. Don't torment the babysitter too much, okay?"

The triplets nodded.

I looked to Drew and Caroline, the newest members of my squad. (Or, at least Drew was.) "Let spring break begin."

The drive to Blaine's was quick, and before Caroline and I could find something to have a power struggle over, we arrived.

I wanted to throw up into the bushes, but I didn't, so that was a promising sign.

I led the others up to the front porch, and just as I knocked on the door, it opened.

"Holy fucking shi—" Arti began, stationed right next to Blaine, but she stopped as someone caught her eye.

Drew smiled at her.

Arti smiled back, then nudged Blaine out of her way. "Move, you piece of shit. Hi, I'm Arti."

"I'm Drew. Nice to meet you."

"No, no, sweetheart. The pleasure is all mine. Thank you for gracing our vacation with your presence. Thank you so, so much."

I rolled my eyes and smiled. That was the reaction I was looking for.

"Hey dumbass, you didn't even say hi to Amanda," Blaine said.

Arti ignored him and listened to Drew's reply instead.

"Well, at least her priorities are consistent," Blaine said to me.

I smiled. "That's what I was going for. You're looking at the best friend in the history of ever."

His face stiffened. "Yeah."

Yikes. Bad move.

"So anyway, I just want to address the elephant in the room right away—" I began, but Blaine interrupted.

"You don't have to. I get it."

"Get what?"

"It."

I bit my cheek. "So you hate me?"

His eyes widened. "Uh, no. Not at all. I just figured it'd be easier if we just," he paused, "didn't address it at all. Pretend it's three years ago."

"Oh," I said.

Where the fuck was I supposed to go from there? I wasn't going to live my vacation in a perpetual state of awkward.

"No, listen to me," I continued. "It's nothing you did. You deserve more than me. You always put more into our relationship than I ever did, and it's not fair—"

"Amanda, stop. I don't want to hear it. I had time to process it all, and I'm thankful that you didn't hide it from me. I really am. Just let it go, okay? I have."

He hadn't let it go, and I wasn't stupid enough to buy into that terrible lie. I could always see right through him.

But I decided to go his way. "Fine," I said as nicely as I could. "Get your shit. We're going. You're in charge of the music, just like three years ago."

He was never as direct as me. I just had to let him do things his own way, even if it seemed odd to me.

"Hey, Art, get your stuff," Blaine said, but once again, she ignored him.

"I'll get it for her," I said, then Blaine and I packed everything into my car.

I snuck a glance at him. All I wanted to do was hug him as he told me exactly what was on his mind. Anything would have been better than the fake version of Blaine I was getting, even sandpapering my fingernails away or filling my ears with cement.

Normal Blaine was the best Blaine, and I accidentally ruined that.

Ten points to Amanda.

The five of us climbed into the car, with Arti taking the seat to the right of Drew. She had some lies to tell, and no one was going to stop her.

"Where are you from?" Arti asked, playing with the tips of her hair.

"A better question would be where I'm not from. I moved around a lot throughout my life," Drew replied.

I had never asked her anything like that. Maybe I'd learn something that would help me piece something together.

"Then where's your favorite place that you've lived?" Arti asked.

"I lived in Denmark for two years. That might be my favorite."

"You lived in Denmark? Do you speak Denmarkian?"

Blaine laughed. "Danish, Arti."

"No thanks. I already ate. Oh my god, though. That's so cool. Where else have you lived?" Arti said.

I laughed and rolled my eyes.

Drew smiled. "I lived in Maine, Chicago, D.C., and Thailand too."

"So you're rich?"

Blaine looked back at her. "Arti, you can't just ask that."

"I just did," Arti replied, then rested her face on her hands as she waited for a response.

"I'm not rich. My parents had a little money, but we moved around a lot for my mom's work," Drew replied.

"What does she do?"

"I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you."

"Oh, so she's, like, a secret agent. I got you." Arti nodded.

"I swear, you get ten thousand times stupider when you see someone attractive," Blaine said.

I opened my mouth to speak, but he was right, so I just let it go.

"Can you blame me? Look at her. She's gorgeous," Arti said.

"Um, thank you," Drew said.

Caroline sat up. "You aren't allowed to talk to her, okay?"

"Me?" Blaine asked.

Caroline nodded. "You have douchebag written all over you. You look like Sam Winchester."

"Sam Winchester's a sweetheart, though," I said. "And damn, Jared Padalecki is fine as hell."

"So that makes me fine as hell," Blaine said.

"You're like the cheap knock-off version."

"I'll take that. But I'm definitely not a douchebag. I'm super chill, I'm wearing sunglasses, and I'm always down for food."

I looked back at Caroline and Drew for a second, then back to the road. "Yeah, this is the Barbie scooter guy. He's not a piece of shit, I promise."

Blaine took his phone from his pocket. (I was surprised he hadn't hijacked my music already.) "Here's a video of it. I made it for Arti."

The video played, and all I could hear was him saying, "fuck you," then a loud crashing noise.

"What did you do?" I asked as Drew laughed.

"I ran into a trash can, but I was okay," Blaine replied.

Thank the dear heavens.

Drew gave a sweet laugh. "You're funny."

Arti let out a gasp. "You know who's even funnier? Me."

"You know who needs to fucking chill? You," I said.

"I came out here to have a good time, and honestly, I'm feeling so attacked right now," Arti muttered.

No one said anything for a moment.

"Shit, I let you all down. My bad," Blaine said.

"What?" Arti asked.

"The music. We've all been forced to suffer through Amanda's shit. But as much as I hate to admit it, that last song was kinda fire." He plugged in the aux cable. "There. That's better. You're welcome, everyone."

The beginning notes of some song I didn't know played, but I looked over at him. He was back to being mean to me about my music taste, so that seemed like a step in the right direction, a step toward normal Blaine.

I reminded myself to let him do his thing. Let him get comfortable.

I let out a breath, and a million butterflies flew out of my stomach, up to my lungs, and out with the air. Of course, there were still a few that remained, but I didn't want to throw up as much.

Progress was progress.

***

We pulled into the driveway of a log cabin style house that was about as charming as Blaine himself.

Matt and Viktor beat us to the house with a car full of groceries, bags, and whatever else they deemed "necessary" for our vacation. I was about eighty percent sure they brought something that had to do with hockey. And, knowing their attention spans, I was also about one hundred percent sure they forgot my stuff.

"We win," Matt said with a smile as I walked up to him.

"Congratulations. Did you remember my bag?" I asked.

"I find your lack of faith disturbing. Of course we did."

"Did you look at what's in it?"

"Why the fuck would I do that?"

"Okay. Just checking."

"What's in there? Weapons? Tampons?"

I smiled. "Both, except tampons."

"What the fuck?"

"Someone's gonna bleed sometime this week, and it sure as hell isn't going to be me."

"That's so gross. Would you stop?" He laughed.

"Fine, fine." I laughed too, as Blaine walked past me.

I grabbed a hold of his sleeve. "Hey."

He hummed in response.

"You really outdid yourself on this. Thank you," I said.

Blaine turned the corners of his mouth upward, and I was pretty sure it was a genuine smile. "You haven't even seen the inside yet. Don't thank me. It could still be a piece of shit."

"It won't be. You don't half ass anything."

"I whole ass everything. One hundred percent ass, all day, every day."

I smiled. "Of course you do."

I let go of his sleeve and watched him as he struggled with the key, then finally managed to open the door.

Viktor's fingers laced through mine, and I looked up at him.

"You two seem," Viktor searched for the right word, "friendly."

"Yeah, and I'm happy. I was afraid things would immediately go to shit, and I think he was afraid of that too," I replied.

"Oh."

"Maybe we lucked out. Or maybe he's just doing this for my own good. I don't know, but no matter what, we just have to keep it off his mind. Got that?"

"Yeah."

"Good." I smiled. "I'm gonna finally put this all together. You, Caroline, the Jardetzky twins, Dr. Mann, Drew. I'm gonna figure it all out this week. Watch me."

"You really shouldn't," he said, and when I looked up at him, he looked back at me. "It's bad timing, and I think you should just let your mind take a break."

"When have I ever done that?"

Viktor frowned. "Never."

"Exactly. So you can either help me, or I can do this by myself."

He thought for a moment, then sighed. "What do you want me to do?"

"Right now, act casual. I don't have a plan yet."

"Can I come up with a plan?"

"Absolutely fucking not."

"What if it's a really good plan?"

"If it's a really good plan, then maybe I'll consider it," I said.

I liked to go with the percentages, and the odds were that Viktor would not come up with a really good plan.

He smiled. "You better watch out, Candy Cane. I'm going to make the best plan ever."

"Good luck, sweetie. I'm sure you'll do great."

"That was so sarcastic, but I don't even care. I'm going to prove you wrong."

"Are you now?"

He nodded. "I'm just as sneaky as you. I just get caught a lot more."

Then he wasn't as sneaky as me, but I didn't say it. Instead, we walked into the house, and I swore that I felt my blood pressure drop to a slightly healthier level.

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Hey everyone! What's going on? Thank you for reading this! It really means a lot.

Do you have any expectations going into their vacation? (I'm going to be honest, this is almost like a cool crossover event for me, like how they used to do on Disney Channel or something.) How is everyone going to get along?