A friend is a person who, most of all, cares about what you feel;

Dani looked up at the ceiling of her room with her fingers interlocked behind her head. She yawned, and sat up, stretching.

Time for dinner.

Today had been a pretty chill day. Nick was nowhere to be seen (apparently he’d gone with Ella to a zoo somewhere?) and some of the other girls were gathered around together hanging out, leaving Dani free to go spend time with Carly, her sister, and her daughter.

It had been a really good day, too, that was the best part. A lot of it had been spent with Carly experimenting with her watch’s powers, to turn into animal girls for her daughter’s amusement. And Emmy had seemed to really enjoy herself.

“I should probably get something to eat,” Dani decided, feeling her stomach rumbling. At the same time, she felt the urge to go cook for herself. It wouldn’t be the first time. But it just felt strange, cooking food for herself, instead of for someone else.

Dani knew that was probably her transformation talking, but still…

The creak of the door opening snapped her out of her thoughts about dinner and she turned around to see her roommate trudge in. And “trudge” was an accurate word to describe Vivian’s actions at the moment, because to Dani’s surprise, the other woman looked completely ragged.

Dani’s mental image of Vivian was that of the smiling, perky billionaire who swaggered into every room like she owned the place, greeting everybody like an old friend, and filled with so much energy that even Carly would be impressed.

None of that seemed present at the moment. Sure, when she saw Dani her smile returned, but it was a little more **** on than usual; her eyes looked a little duller and her steps were a little more dragged. She reminded Dani of herself after a really intense workout; and not the fun kind where she pushed herself right up the edge and got all sweaty and energized, the kind of workout where she crossed that line and just felt like **** warmed over.

That was how Vivian looked right now.

“Hey, is everything alright?” Dani asked, walking over to the heiress. Her brow furrowed with concern which must have been obvious to Vivian because right away she snapped back to a full-on smile and her eyes twinkled pleasantly.

“Oh, sure!” Vivian chirped, straightening up her slumped shoulders and placing her hands on her hips. “I’ve got no complaints at all! What about you, how has your day been so far?” She inquired, leaning forward intently.

Normally that would have been fine for Dani. But she could still tell that something was off. The way Vivian was acting, the drastic shift in her body language the second she realized she wasn’t alone, that all signaled to the tomboy that her roommate was putting up an act.

Dani had seen that more than a couple of times with other girls, and it seldom ended well.

“…My day was fine,” she said evenly, not taking the bait from the other woman to change the subject. “What about yours? You looked pretty worn out. Weren’t you hanging out with Rose again?” She remembered Vivian mentioning something this morning about going over to see Rose and Ella. If anything would exhaust a person, it was dealing with Rose’s ego all day long.

To Vivian’s credit, she didn’t give a signal that anything was the matter. No sudden twitch, no flinching, no aside glance, she handled everything with an even smile and batted her eyelashes, leaning back on the balls of her heels and clasping her hands behind her back as she rocked back and forth with an innocent expression.

“It was fun, I suppose?” She murmured cheerily. “We hooked up with Dawn for a little bit, and invited Morgana out for the day to help her with her date tomorrow! Even Holly tagged along, it was quite marvelous!”

So not just Rose, but Morgana and Holly as well? Dawn notwithstanding that sounded like a recipe for major headaches. No wonder Vivian looked so tired! …But Dani sensed there was still something the other woman was holding back.

“That’s really it, then?” She asked, raising her eyebrow warily.

“Oh, and we also went to ride on horses for a little bit!” Vivian pressed her hands together in front of her chest, still rocking on her heels. A bright smile stretched across her face, and she had a dreamy gleam in her eye. “It was wonderful. You really should have been there.”

Well, it did sound like she had fun… but Dani wasn’t convinced.

“Then why did you come in here looking worn out and dejected, like someone just spilled wine on your favorite outfit?” Dani asked, using an analogy she hoped Vivian would respond to.

And it seemed to get a reaction, judging by the flicker in her eyes. Vivian pinched her lips together and looked warily at Dani, seemingly unshaken but still, Dani sensed, hiding something from her.

“Vivian?”

“It’s not important,” Vivian said sharply, with a suddenness that caught Dani by surprise. “We were just having fun, that’s all. We helped Morgana plan out her date, then we went to go get dinner. It was a great time! You really should have been there.”

That was the second time she said that.

“You really wanted me to come that badly?” Dani raised her eyebrow.

“Of course!” Vivian chirped. “The more the merrier, isn’t that what they’re always saying ‘round these parts?”

Maybe? Dani knew how much Vivian liked to party, but again, she sensed there was something under the surface here.

It reminded her of the other day, when Vivian was practically insistent about spending time with them, to the point of almost seeming ****. Dani had invited her, and the way her face had just lit up with joy…

Is that why she wanted me to come? Dani wondered. Because she wanted me there? But why me in particular? It’s not like we’re all that close.

She realized then, from the way Vivian was looking at her, that wasn’t what was going on at all here. No, Vivian wasn’t responding like that because she was particularly interested in Dani’s presence or anything.

“How did you and Morgana get along?” Dani asked. “I’m sure she really appreciated the ideas you had for her date.”

Dani could picture it clearly. Vivian proposing all manner of wild and exciting things for the goth girl to try, and Morgana getting progressively flustered with each suggestion. It sounded like a good time… or at least, what Vivian would consider a good time.

“Oh, we got along great!” Vivian laughed, sauntering over to the bed and sitting down, kicking off her shoes and wiggling her toes through her socks. “That girl, it’s a job and a half to get her talking, but once you do? It’s like she just won’t stop! Quite adorable I must say!”

“Right, yeah, I get that,” Dani said, nodding slowly.

“Did I mention we went horseback riding? She was a little nervous at first, but she did alright. She almost fell off though, right on Holly’s head! It was like seeing a grape fall on top of a raisin,” Vivian added.

That was a mental picture.

“So you guys already got dinner then, I take it?” Dani pressed.

This time Vivian did flinch. Just the slightest twitch of the eye, something anybody would miss if they weren’t specifically looking for it. But Dani was. Because she was concerned about Vivian, surprisingly, and didn’t want her to keep masking her feelings behind a smile.

Never would have thought she of all people would get under my skin this way, Dani thought, chewing on her lip.

“Yeah… dinner was great,” Vivian said, nodding. She patted her stomach. “…Sure, we went our separate ways after that, but you know how it is. Rose wanted to do something for Ella, since she and Nick will be coming back soon, and Dawn, well, she and Morgana and Holly still had some more planning to do, and I thought it was probably the right time to take my leave, if you get my meaning.”

So that’s it.

Vivian was smiling. But her eyes looked hurt. And Dani finally understood why. She remembered the look on the heiress’s face down at the pool, the way she’d been sitting on the sidelines and watching with a big smile, looking like she was having the time of her life… but not actually taking part in the fun with the rest of them.

Oh, sure, she had her reasons. Big, fanciful excuses she gave about how she didn’t really need to go into the water, how she was having a perfectly good time just watching from the sidelines. But Dani had found that strange even back then.

Now she understood why.

Dani could picture things perfectly in her mind. Vivian and Rose got along okay; the two of them were similar in a lot of ways. But as perceptive as Rose could be at times, there was a lot she missed. Dani was guilty of that too, on occasion, but for once it seemed like she could really feel where the heiress was coming from here.

Dinner probably had been fun. And she doubted Vivian was lying when she said she’d enjoyed spending time with the other girls today. But… it played out differently in the end, hadn’t it?

Holly could be friends with anyone, if they could tolerate her. But she really seemed to get along with Dawn and Morgana, who were already very close friends themselves. If today had been all about Morgana, with even Rose lending a hand, and Vivian joining in…

“What’s up, Dani?” Vivian asked suddenly, shaking Dani out of her thoughts. The tomboy looked up at the brunette’s curious eyes, and saw the way they masked her feelings of hesitation.

Dani bit her lip.

“Vivian…”

“Yeah?” The heiress’s face suddenly shifted to a look of hesitation. “What… what’s up? You’ve been staring at me kind of weird for a while…”

She cupped her hands over her chin and leaned forward with her elbows on her knees, flashing a dazzling smile. “Captivated by my beauty?”

Apparently their room wasn’t just helping Vivian absorb qualities from Dani’s personality, she was inheriting traits from Rose now, as well.

“Were you feeling lonely?” Dani couldn’t help but blurt out.

Vivian’s mouth fell open in shock and she stared at the tomboy for a moment.

“Ex… excuse me?” She shook her head incredulously and stood up, approaching Dani with a frown on her face. “What’s THAT supposed to mean?”

There wasn’t a sense of hostility in her confrontational tone, and it didn’t sound defensive, either. No, Vivian almost sounded… confused.

Or stunned.

“Sorry, sorry…” Dani’s cheeks reddened and she shook her head. “That… it came out weird, sorry.”

What had she even been trying to say with that? She couldn’t really explain herself. It just felt like… well…

Dani swallowed and tried again. “It’s just that it must have stung to not be invited to hang out with Morgana and Dawn and Holly after dinner.”

That wasn’t how she meant to say it, either! Damn it, why was Dani so bad at finding the words she wanted to say?! …Ugh, maybe that was something she’d gotten from Vivian as well, although she couldn’t imagine ever having coveted that particular aspect of the heiress’s personality.

“Ah, you’ve got it all wrong!” Vivian laughed, crinkling her nose. She shook her head. “I told you, I left on my own! It’s not like I didn’t get invited.”

She winked. “Can’t overstay your welcome, you know? Got leave ‘em wanting more.”

Showmanship. Exaggeration. Vivian was putting on a big production, to suit her big personality. But Dani saw right through it now.

“You mean you read the room and saw that the three of them were off in their own little world, but rather than tag along and feel like the third wheel you left before things could get even more awkward, right?” She guessed, narrowing her eyes.

For a moment, Vivian stopped breathing. She cut off her gasp before it was anything past a sharp hitch of air, but the way she looked at Dani for that fraction of a second- the flash of realization, when she KNEW that Dani knew how she was feeling…

That was it. That’s what Dani had been expecting to see from her all night.

“…I don’t really get what you mean by that,” Vivian said, playing with her hair. She wore an expression on her face that could have been used in a PR video it was so polished and perfect; practically airbrushed onto her face. “We had a good time today.”

“I know,” Dani nodded. “I’ve been there myself.”

“Eh? Horseback riding?” Vivian raised a curious eyebrow.

Dani shook her head. “No, I’ve been the girl on the outside. The one who everyone gets along with, but no one really is looking for. I know that feeling myself, and it sucks, doesn’t it?”

Another flinch. This time Vivian couldn’t hide it. She was too sloppy now, and she knew Dani saw right through it.

“…Weren’t you going to go get dinner or something?” Vivian asked, shadows creeping onto her face. “I’ll be hanging out with Octavia here, take your time.”

Yeah, Dani had been there before, too. Pushing people away because of that miserable feeling of isolation.

“Vivian, it’s alright,” she said with a sigh. “You can’t always click with everybody.”

“No, maybe you can’t, but we clicked just fine,” Vivian said. Dani could tell her words were getting to the heiress because she was starting to make excuses.

“I’m sure you did,” Dani said gently, and she sincerely meant it, too. There was no doubt in her mind that Vivian had a great time with the girls, that they’d all gone horseback riding together and had a blast. That was thing- having fun with others? It really was something else.

But there were those tiny moments. The ones that Dani had encountered herself, the ones that Vivian had no doubt been subjected to today.

“You and I don’t really talk much, do we?” Dani asked, sitting down on the bed next to the heiress.

What happened next surprised her. For a moment, she felt Vivian shift, like she was scooting closer to her. But just for a second. The next thing she knew the heiress was on her feet again, looking down at Dani like she felt the need to put up a wall between the two of them.

“Weren’t you going to go eat?” Vivian asked with a diplomatic smile. “I wouldn’t want to keep you, you know.”

“Faeries can order food in,” Dani pointed out. “You told me about that, remember?”

“…Sure did, or, you could always cook for me again,” Vivian laughed. “See if I can be the fifth notch on your bedpost?”

Dani had almost forgotten. She still needed that last person for her bounty. But that was the last thing on her mind right now.

She’s pretty good, I’ve gotta say. She deflects and changes the subject like a natural. If I didn’t know she was doing it, I might not even pick up on it.

But Dani couldn’t drop this. She was never the type of person to let something go, for better or worse. (Usually worse.)

“I’d really rather talk,” Dani said sincerely, looking up into the heiress’s eyes. “But if you’d rather not hang out with me for a little while, I get it…”

Vivian’s face scrunched up and she sighed. “…Well, now that’s just no fair,” she said in a teasing voice, but Dani could hear a lot of sincerity being masked by the playfulness.

That was a good sign.

“You and I don’t have a lot in common,” Dani mused. That was an understatement. Completely different body types, completely different social standing, not to mention net worth. “Probably why we ended up in here together.”

“Doesn’t mean we can’t be friends, though,” Vivian pointed out.

Dani smiled at her. “No, it doesn’t. But that’s the thing with friends, it’s hard to tell when you’re friends and just acquaintances, isn’t it?”

Yep, there it was. That look again. Vivian was hard to read most of the time. But not tonight. Not right here, in front of Dani.

“You have no idea,” Vivian said with a long sigh, shaking her head. “We had a huge debate about it just today, in fact! Rose and Dawn… those two, they get along just dandy but you’d never tell by looking at ‘em!”

“Right, that… I guess that’s true,” Dani muttered, refusing to take the bait again. “But I was talking about me. See, you might not believe this, but back in high school, I was actually pretty popular, if I do say so myself.”

Vivian blinked. “Oh, really?” She asked, raising her eyebrow.

“Gee, you look surprised,” Dani said sarcastically. “No, I’m serious. I ran track, and I was really good at it, too. I won a lot of competitions, could have even gotten some scholarships if I wanted, but I chose to focus on my art instead.”

Not that that had worked out, either…

“…Thing is, being popular, it was weird for me, because I wasn’t one of ‘those’ kids, you know?” Dani scratched her chin. “Hard to describe… the cheerleader type.”

Vivian shrugged her shoulders. “You Americans, you’ve got such a weird high school culture, can’t say I understand it,” she admitted ruefully. “Your football isn’t even football, what would I know about your cheerleaders?”

Dani gave her a look. “…Not the important part. I’m talking about girls like you, Vivian. The ones who are the center of the show, planning all the parties, turning all the heads, getting along with everybody around them because everyone wants to be in their inner circle.”

“Oh, stop it, you’re making me blush!” Vivian joked, fanning herself.

Dani didn’t take her eyes off the other girl. “I was never good at that. Being popular, I mean. Me, I tend to stick to myself a lot. I like running because I like it. I like working out because it clears my head and makes me feel good. I like to draw, to paint, because… those are the things that fill my heart with happiness. But it’s all stuff I do on my own. It’s not that I’m antisocial or anything, I just… I don’t need a bunch of people around me to feel like I’m having fun.”

As Dani confessed her feelings, she wondered if Vivian could even understand her perspective. But it was alright if she couldn’t.

That wasn’t the point.

“Thing is, I still ended up with the popular crowd anyway,” Dani explained, rolling her eyes. “Even wound up dating a couple guys, thinking that’s how it was supposed to be. Huge fucking mistake there, let me tell you.”

She made a face that Vivian winced sympathetically to.

“Ouch, sorry to hear that.”

“Don’t worry.” Dani waved her hand dismissively. “Moved on a long time ago from that junk, it’s fine. Point is, I never really clicked with those guys. I never fit in. I was invited to stuff, sure, but it was obligatory. ‘She’s pretty cool and popular, we totally need to get her to come to our party!’ and yeah, I’d go, because that’s just what you do, right?”

“Yeah, it’s just what you do,” Vivian echoed.

“…But in a situation like that, you can’t not notice,” Dani said, looking sharply at the other girl. “How everyone is fine you’re there, but it’s not like they’re looking to see you. You’re invited because you’re one of the gang. You’re always welcome to hang out. But it’s not like anyone ever thinks ‘Hey, let’s make sure Dani comes! I really want to hang out with Dani today!’ because… they don’t really want you there, do they?”

Vivian froze in place, like Dani knew she would.

Her heart stung as she looked at the heiress, who was doing her best not to show any trace of her own emotions. It was hard. Dani knew just how hard it was. To pretend like you didn’t see it. To try and tell yourself it wasn’t the case.

“…I thought they were my friends,” Dani said softly. “And I’m sure if you asked them, they’d tell you I was. But the thing is… it’s not the same, is it? Being welcome isn’t the same thing as being wanted. Just because people are glad you’re there, that isn’t the same as being missed when you’re not.”

It felt like being a ghost. Dani would hang out with the other popular kids. She’d share in their fun times, laugh at their jokes, even crack a few good ones herself that would have the whole room rolling.

But if she’d skipped out one day, would anyone miss her?

“I’m sorry you went through that, Dani,” Vivian said diplomatically. “That sounds really hard.”

Yeah, you’d know all about that, wouldn’t you? Dani looked up at her, practically pleading with Vivian to open up herself. To share the feelings she knew were there, under the surface.

“Just say it! We both know what it’s like to be going through that right now, so just say it!” She practically wanted to scream.

But Vivian was unshakable.

“…That’s why, looking back, I can say with confidence that Nick is the only real friend I had in those days,” Dani said finally, defeated. Vivian just wouldn’t crack. “Out of everyone I knew, he was the guy who really wanted me there. He would have noticed if I wanted to leave and go home. And he would have been sad, but he would have driven me back to my place, anyway. Because that’s the kind of guy he is. That’s how I know he’s my friend. Because he cares. Because I never once felt like I was on the sidelines.”

Nick had made Dani feel like she belonged. Which made her guilt over how their initial relationship ended sting even more.

But as much as it hurt to recount that part of her life, she desperately needed Vivian to see that she wasn’t alone here.

“Vivian… you’re not just welcome to eat dinner with me,” she said, fighting back her tears of sympathy. “You’re wanted. You really are. Okay?”

Vivian’s eyes widened and she looked at Dani, stunned. “You… you really mean that?” She asked in a hushed whisper, like she couldn’t believe it herself.

Dani nodded.