When you have the passion and the drive, you expect your moment, center stage, to arrive

Nick was surprised to see that everyone was still in the Banquet Hall when he returned. He had assumed they would all go their separate ways, at least since it would be awkward otherwise. But apparently, everybody had stuck around and kept talking with one another. (He hoped it wasn’t because of all the pressure that the situation had put on them.)

So when he and Rose (and Morgana) returned to the Banquet Hall to let everybody know what had happened, he was relieved that he wouldn’t have to spend the day tracking everybody down and giving the same explanation a dozen times over.

“Whaaaaaat?” Vivian’s mouth fell open. “So… everything’s okay now?”

“Mmhmm!” Rose was all smiles as she clung to Nick’s arm. Her face was practically glowing and she rested her cheek on his shoulder. They looked every bit the happy couple that nobody would have expected from them an hour ago.

It was a relieving sight, to be sure. But at the same time, it did raise questions.

“I’m so happy for you both!” Vivian gushed. Relief crashed over her like a tidal wave. “I always hate it when people get mad at each other and fight!”

“I’m with Vivian, this is good,” Marley agreed. “I wasn’t sure how to feel about everything that happened, to be honest.”

Gina nodded. “No kidding, talk about a tense situation.”

“I see… that’s good,” Amelia said, giving her stepson an approving nod. Internally, she was quite pleased, and above all, proud, that Nick had been able to properly communicate with Rose and clear the air with her.

It wasn’t something she would have been capable of.

“So this means we don’t have to throw a party, huh?” Vivian tapped her chin. “Well, that’s a pity, but if you ask me, I’ll take everybody making up and being happy over a party any day!”

Kim was surprised to hear that from Vivian. “Really? You would?”

Vivian looked at her. “Well, what did you think? That I’d be upset that there wouldn’t be a party or something?”

Kim shook her head. “No, that’s now what I meant, just… it’s surprising, that all.”

Vivian had seemed so dead-set on having a party that Kim didn’t see the sudden pivot coming.

“Sorry, what’s this now about a party?” Rose’s fox ears twitched atop her head and she looked over at the two butlers. This talk about a party had her WAY more intrigued than why the two of them were dressed like that.

“Oh, it was something Vivian came up with after you ran off,” Dani explained. “She said you might have felt underappreciated given everything that had happened, so we should throw a party for you to show you how much we appreciate you. Stuff like that.”

“Vivian…” Rose’s eyes sparkled with delight and she touched her hand to her chest. She was touched by the gesture from the heiress. Having idolized Vivian a little, to hear that the other girl suggested something so nice for her… it really made her want to cry.

But she’d cried enough today.

“We could still have the party, you know!” Carly said. “It doesn’t have to be a big thing, either, just a nice celebration! Oh, and we definitely need to thank Morgana for being such a big help.”

“Hmm? Oh, I didn’t do all that much,” Morgana said, waving her hand dismissively.

“No, you definitely did,” Ella said, shaking her head earnestly. “Nick never would have gone after Rose like that if you hadn’t coaxed him into it!”

She gasped when she realized how that made Nick sound. “I-I didn’t mean that like… I just… we-well, I mean…”

“No, that’s about right,” Dawn said, interceding on Ella’s behalf before the poor girl exploded from embarrassment.

Nick wished he could argue, but… “Morgana, you really did save the day,” he honestly told her. “Thanks for giving me the kick in the butt I needed.”

She leaned in close and whispered into his ear, “Well, you’re the one who came up with the scarf, so I guess we’re even then.”

“Hey! Speaking of kicking in the butt, Daddy…” Sylvia flounced over to Nick, her eyes sparkling. “Morgana, don’t you have something you want to say?”

Nick looked at Morgana, and Morgana looked at Sylvia. Her eyes flared in frustration. Just because her transformation had made her bolder and more willing to speak her mind, that didn’t mean she was willing to discuss a sensitive topic like this with Nick in front of everybody like it was no big deal. Some things still needed to be private.

“Ooh, this sounds intriguing,” Holly giggled. She leaned forward on her elbows then turned to her friend, “Mary, what do you- …Mary?”

She was taken aback by the expression she saw on her friend’s face. Mary was smiling, sure, but Holly knew her best friend’s smiles. And this smile, it wasn’t the kind of smile the girl wore when she was genuinely happy from the bottom of her heart. Sure, Mary definitely was happy for Rose, no denying that, but behind that happiness… Holly was sure there was something deeper at play.

And she didn’t like the look of it one bit.

“Mary, what’s wrong?” She asked, grabbing her friend’s arm.

“H-huh?” Mary looked at her, surprised. Holly had just disrupted what she’d been thinking of, and it took her a minute to refocus.

That wasn’t a minute Holly was willing to give her.

“There’s something you’re not saying, isn’t there?” Holly whispered low enough so that the others couldn’t hear her. Well, except for Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin, who was sitting right next to the redhead. Her sensitive ears let her pick up on the conversation, and she glanced over at Mary as well.

“It… it’s not… I…” Mary was going to say “It’s not important” but she couldn’t get the words out. Because deep down she knew that they were a lie. This WAS important, and if she didn’t address it, there was a chance that what had happened this morning was going to repeat itself.

“Mary? You good?” Dani also noticed that something was up with the other woman, but not being as close with her, she didn’t want to pry.

The fact she was even willing to say anything in the first place, though… it spurred Mary on and made her realize that she had to speak up. That’s how much this meant to her… no, how much Nick and Rose meant to her, and all her friends along with them.

Taking a deep breath, Mary suddenly stood up, surprising everyone.

“Nick… I have to ask. You and Rose…” Mary glanced from one side of the table to the other at the two of them as anxiety pricked in her breast.

“…What did you decide on?” She managed to spit out.

Amelia would have applauded the ambiguity in her sentence.

Fortunately, this was one bit of subtext that Nick and Rose were both able to immediately pick up on. The two of them shared wary glances with one another before turning their attention back to the redhead together.

“Are you talking about marriage?” Carly bluntly cut to the chase.

“Carly!” Marley hissed at her sister, looking aghast.

“What? It was the obvious insinuation!” Carly pointed out. “And besides, this whole thing started because of communication problems, right? Isn’t it better to just cut to the chase and, you know, talk about it?”

Marley pouted because she knew her sister had a point.

“It’s a fair question,” Nick said, cooling things off before they had a chance to boil over again. “And you’re not wrong, Carly. All of this started because… I got too comfortable with the way things were. I mean, shit, I gave this whole speech to all of you this morning about how I need to be more proactive and how if I get too complacent then Echo is going to make me do something to stir shit up, and… well… I utterly failed to take my own advice.”

Rose winced and nodded in quiet agreement. It hurt her to see Nick like this, but deep in her heart, part of her was relieved to see how much he obviously cared about her.

And she knew that he loved her. No matter what his words (or lack thereof) may have led her to believe… her heart knew the truth now.

“Rose and I… after what happened… after we made up-”

“You guys fucked?” Sylvia said bluntly.

Dani kicked her under the table.

“NO! We didn’t!” Rose’s face turned bright red.

“Of course they didn’t!” Morgana snapped. “I was with them the whole time!”

“Yeah, and give Nick a little credit,” Gina said. “They were gone for, what, twenty minutes? A half-hour, tops? He can last longer than that! Usually. Dawn, you can confirm the time, right?”

Dawn scrunched up her face in disgust at the vulgar topic. “Gross,” she muttered, shaking her head. “Gina…”

“What? I’m kidding!” Gina rolled her eyes. “But seriously, Nick-”

“Can I please just talk already?” Nick interrupted her. He didn’t like speaking over anyone, and that was something that most of the girls had taken for granted. But he really need to share his feelings right now, while he had everyone’s attention. Before things got out of hand again.

Gina looked surprised by Nick’s attempt to take control like that. And a little turned on, too, if she was being honest.

She shut her mouth and nodded in approval.

Nick sighed in relief. Seeing that everyone was willing to let him have the floor, he explained what should have been stated outright the minute he walked into the room.

“Rose and I, we talked. And we decided… that we’re not going to get married yet.”

All eyes immediately turned to Rose, some out of curiosity and a lot out of concern for her feelings on the matter. After all, Rose was the one who had wanted this most of all.

But Rose was smiling and nodding along in support. She returned to Nick’s side, and took his arm in her embrace once more.

“It’s alright you guys,” she assured them. “It’s not what you think.”

Nick was relieved himself to see everyone calming down. “She and I were talking, and we realized that we both feel the same way. We’re both in love with each other, and we both want to get married. But at the same time, we also found a lot of hesitation there, too.”

That had been the biggest surprise. Nick had been certain that Rose was all-in on getting married. But the truth was, she had her own doubts as well.

She wanted it, just as much as he wanted it, if not moreso. But she still had her reservations about the whole thing.

“None of us have what you would call a ‘traditional’ relationship,” Rose said, making air quotes with her fingers and rolling her eyes. “So I don’t know if the steps we’re taking are the right ones or not, which, believe me- HUGE pain in the butt.”

She shook her head and sighed, then cast a loving look towards Nick.

“I want to marry him, I do, but… when things calm down.”

“This is Harem Hotel,” Holly bluntly pointed out. “Things aren’t EVER going to calm down.”

Mary hated that she agreed. Echo was going to make sure of that. She knew how wicked and spiteful she could be at her worst, and Echo…

Echo was far more than her worst. Just thinking about her other self made her shiver with dismay.

“No, we mean… haaah…” Rose pinched her nose and looked at Nick. “Nick, could you please explain? I think I’m doing a real bad job, and frankly, I’m getting kind of exhausted…”

“Rose is trying to say that the whole ‘marriage’ thing is kind of a hot button right now,” Nick clarified for her. “Emotions and tensions are running high. We want to take a break, and come back to the conversation without all the anxiety and stress.”

“…So you’re dragging it out,” Gina said bluntly.

“No!” Rose objected. “Just… not rushing into things and hurrying to the altar right now.”

“Once we have a conversation and get everything in order, we’re going to get married,” Nick assured everyone. “It’s just not going to be now.”

“It’s not going to even be this round, either.” Rose dug her nails into Nick’s arm softly and shook her head.

Her eyes landed on Mary and Mary winced.

“Right… because… because of Echo…” Mary bit her lip.

Rose nodded. “That bounty list I got… that was an obvious trap on Echo’s part.”

“Of course it was,” Sylvia muttered. “That girl is a snake of a host! I would never do something so underhanded!”

“We could try and make the math work,” Dawn pointed out. “If we all pooled our heads together we might be able to come up with a way to get everybody up to 100 VP before the round is over. If I have competitions…”

Her voice trailed off as she thought about what her “competition” for the round would entail. Maybe it wasn’t a foolproof plan after all.

“It’s not just about that,” Rose said adamantly.

“Rose is right,” Nick said. “Honestly, this whole bounty list thing… it really made me think about the situation right now. And the unfair situation I’m putting you all in. The truth is… after thinking it over… I…”

He looked down at the ground and felt like a complete piece of shit for even saying this.

“…I’m not ready for this show to come to an end yet,” he admitted.

Somewhere in the hotel, Echo let out a laugh of triumph.

“What?” Kim looked at Nick in shock. She wasn’t the only one. There were a lot of surprised reactions going around the table. Even Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin looked stunned, and she barely even had a solid grasp of the context here.

“It’s because of Dakota, isn’t it?” Mary asked quietly.

Nick bit his lip and nodded. “I’m terrible… I know. I mean… we could end this whole thing right now. Maybe Dawn’s right, maybe… maybe we could work out a way to get everyone over the 100 VP threshold and just put an end to things right now. But if we do that… then what would happen to Dakota?”

It was a rhetorical question. No one knew the answer, but whatever it was, it wouldn’t be very good, that was for sure.

“I’m sorry. Like I said… I’m terrible,” Nick apologized. “This show… it doesn’t cost me anything, that’s the sick part of it! You all are the ones who have to suffer… every round, you guys get new and humiliating transformations. You have so many I can’t even keep track! And… and I’m asking you to stick around with me and keep taking on more?”

He shook his head. “No, that… that’s not fair,” he said adamantly. “I know that’s not fair. But what am I supposed to do? Ask you guys to please sacrifice your wellbeing for Dakota’s sake? After everything she did to you all?”

There were no right choices here. Nick didn’t want to abandon Dakota. More than anything, he didn’t want that.

But at the same time, how could he ask the women in his life to make this sacrifice for him? To risk more transformations, just for the sake of a woman who probably wouldn’t spit on any of them if they were on fire?

Of all the selfish things he’d asked, this had to be one of the worst.

“…Nick is too nice to ask,” Rose said, stepping forward with her hands on her hips. She took stock of the uncomfortable expressions on everyone’s faces as they processed the situation fully. “But luckily for him, I’m not.”

“Huh? What are you talking about?” Dani asked, confused.

Rose smirked.

“I’m not getting married, and that’s MY choice! So there!” She cackled, throwing back her head like the perfect villainess. “Too bad!”

No one said anything for a second.

“…So is anybody buying this?” Kim looked around questioningly. “Seriously, I’m asking, is anybody taking this whole ‘Rose being a jerk’ thing seriously?”

“Huh!?” Rose’s face burned.

“I’m definitely not,” Marley shook her head.

“Nope, no way,” Gina agreed.

“Obvious,” Amelia said coldly, adjusting her glasses.

“What are you guys talking about!?” Rose’s cheeks burned.

Dawn was happy to answer her. “They’re talking about how you’re obviously trying to play the villain for Nick’s sake, so anyone upset that we won’t be ending the season before the next round will blame you, and not him.”

She scoffed and shook her head. “And you’re doing an exceptionally poor job of it, too.”

“Hey!” Rose snapped at her.

“You guys…” Nick didn’t know how to respond to any of the things he was seeing right now. It was overwhelming.

“I… I don’t want the show to end either!” Ella blurted out. She rose to her feet. “I know… I haven’t been here as long as a lot of you, but… back on earth… there… there’s nothing for me back there.”

Not quite true. Back on earth awaited a cell, or maybe a padded room. Neither of which appealed to her at all.

“Maybe this is selfish of me, but I don’t care,” Ella said, shaking her head. “I came here to further my relationship with Nick… if we go back now, then… …I don’t know! But I don’t want to, so that’s that!” She sat back down, exhausted.

“It’s a difficult problem,” Dani said. “I don’t want to keep going with this show any longer than we have to, but… the thought of leaving Dakota at the mercy of the producers, that… that doesn’t sit well with me, either.”

“Me neither,” Vivian agreed.

“I’m always up for more transformations,” Sylvia chirped. She shrugged. “I mean, I get it, I’m not the prime appeal here, but still. You guys get me.”

It was a complicated situation to say the least. Everybody felt a little tense and uneasy, and everyone was forced into uncomfortable positions.

But nobody was selfish enough to outright say “Let’s just abandon Dakota for our own sake” and that was what mattered.

“I’m stunned,” Mary breathed. She wiped a tear from her eye and looked at Nick. Then she smiled. “I guess we’re all in this together, then.”

Nick nodded. He was shocked, too. “Yeah… I guess we are.”

The wedding would have to wait.

And from her parlor, Echo’s laughter could be heard.