Freya's one-bedroom apartment was barely a fifth of the size of Joe and Tessa's house, and the couch Ellie slept on grew more uncomfortable every night. But worse than waking up to Enrique Iglesias' hot breath on her face for the third day in a row was that when she checked her phone, there were still no new calls or messages. Disappointed, she rested her phone face-down on the floor as Freya greeted her from the kitchen a few feet away.

"Morning, sunshine. Coffee?" Ellie shook her head and sat up, nursing a stiff neck. "Put your shoes on. We have class in an hour."

Ellie's forehead wrinkled in confusion over why Freya had such a sense of urgency to get to their self-defense class, then remembered that she lived almost an hour away from the studio. Regardless, Ellie had no intention of going, which Freya picked up on. She planned to spend the day like she had the others: hide in Freya's apartment. The good thing about Freya was that she didn't ask too many questions, though Ellie suspected that she'd been in contact with Joe and Tessa a few times throughout the last few days.

"If it's already paid for, you're going," Freya said as she rounded the countertop that separated the kitchen from the living room and entryway. "I'm guessing you didn't bring your gym gear. There's extra clothes in the bathroom."

Freya didn't give Ellie time to argue before she grabbed the leash attached to Enrique Iglesias' collar and stepped outside in nothing but a pair of shorts and a sports bra. Ellie found herself having to tear her eyes away.

Ellie compulsively checked her phone again for missed messages that could have come through within the minute since she last checked. When her inbox came up empty, she tossed the phone on the floor and made her way into the bathroom.

The clothes Freya laid out were more revealing than Ellie typically wore, and they looked like they'd been dug out from the depths of Freya's closet. She reluctantly slid into the shorts that covered halfway down her thighs—though they probably did not go as far down Freya's longer legs when she wore them—and the thick-strapped, neck-high tank top. Inspecting herself in the mirror, she noted that the top at least concealed the unsightly scars on her torso, but revealed a few smaller ones on her arms and shoulders. Other women at the gym certainly wore a lot less, but Ellie didn't think they had as much to hide.

Deciding that seventy-four degrees and sunny wasn't too hot for a sweatshirt, Ellie threw her hoodie from the night before back on and stepped into the hallway in time for Freya to come back inside.

"You look good," Freya said as she unclipped her dog's leash. "Ready?"

Between her curls that stuck out in every direction and the shadows under her eyes from multiple restless nights, Ellie looked like a train wreck. She wasn't sure what Freya saw amongst the gym shorts and oversized sweatshirt. She certainly was not ready to go anywhere or do anything.

If Ellie had learned one thing about Freya in the last few days, it was that Freya was a morning person. Ellie was not.

Compared to when Ellie arrived at her doorstep, Freya looked refreshed and back to the energetic person she typically was. Her short hair was pushed back and pinned in a headband, and she had an extra spring in her step that she lacked late at night.

Ellie begrudgingly mumbled that she was ready and walked past Freya as she held the door open.

The long drive back to the Hills and the start of class was filled with Freya dancing around the subject of what happened that landed Ellie on her doorstep in the middle of the night. Surprised by Freya's sudden interest, Ellie gave as vague answers as she could until class was nearing its end, and Freya found herself on the receiving end of Ellie's punches... literally.

The past few weeks of class had been about strength building, which meant that Freya and Ellie voluntarily partnered up at one of the punching bags. Ellie still lacked power behind her swings, but the anger she felt towards Joe fueled every muscle as she swung at the bag that Freya held in place. It didn't require much effort on Freya's part, but Ellie's packed punches still took her by surprise.

"Simmer down, Russo. You're gonna rip this thing a new one with those tiny fists of fury."

"Maybe you could not tell me what to do," Ellie said, channeling Freya's remarks straight into the punching bag. Her knuckles ached immediately upon the muffled sound of impact.

"Right. So this—" Freya gestured her hand up and down. "—has nothing to do with why you're sleeping on my couch."

Ellie grunted as she threw her weight into the next hit, causing Freya to readjust her footing.

"Okay," Freya continued, "let me rephrase. Tell me what happened."

Ellie wound up to throw another punch, but dropped it. She straightened up and stared at Freya with a mixture of frustration and sadness.

"I said something... kinda shitty to Joe."

"What did you say?"

Ellie hesitated and played with the hem of her sweatshirt.

"I was—I am mad that he made me leave the prison. For telling them to pull me out before I was ready." Ellie returned to position and sent another fist flying into the bag. Before Freya could ask her to expand on what she meant, the instructor strolled by.

"Fix your stance, Ellie," the instructor said, then quickly moved onto the next pair. Ellie adjusted her feet and took another swing.

"He hasn't even tried to call me."

"What did you expect? You're the one who should apologize to him, not the other way around."

Ellie delivered one final hit before the instructor told them to switch stations and partners, which she was grateful for so she wouldn't have to hear Freya tell her the same things that drove her away from Joe and Tessa's house.

At the end of class, Ellie quickly found Freya again across the room, her nose buried in her phone.

"I think some tacos are calling our names," Freya said, shoving the phone in her pocket.

Even though she would have rather gone back to Freya's apartment and didn't want to leave in the first place, Ellie agreed. A few minutes later, the girls had a spread of Freya's favorite reminders of home laid out in front of them.

"Call him and apologize," Freya said before picking a piece of shredded beef off the tray. "The man was just trying to help."

"Since when do you take Joe's side?" Ellie asked, sitting back in her chair.

"All I'm saying is, there's probably a lot more going on than you realize."

Ellie wrinkled her forehead and stared back at Freya.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Freya shrugged, pretending to have forgotten what she said that elicited such a response. Ellie huffed and rolled her eyes at Freya's feigned ignorance. "Why does everyone feel like they need to tiptoe around me? I'm sick of you three treating me like a child."

"Then stop acting like one," Freya said. Her tone was low and soft, but it still cut deep. "Joe and Tessa are just trying to help and you take every opportunity to push them away."

"Joe said he trusted me, and then couldn't leave me to make my own decisions when it came down to it. He lied."

"Ay dios mío, I can't watch this anymore. It was me, okay? I was the one that told them to pull you out, not Joe. He took the fall after he saw how angry you were about it. He didn't want you to be mad at me, so he said it was him."

Ellie stared at Freya in shock, but Freya's buzzing phone pulled her attention away.

"I have to run by work for a few minutes," Freya said without looking up from the screen as her thumbs typed away. "You ready?"

Ellie opened her mouth to object, but Freya was already on her way out the door. Ellie wanted nothing more than to hide away in Freya's apartment, but she didn't have much of a choice. If Freya's confession was true, it made going back to Joe and Tessa all the more difficult. It meant that the last thing Ellie said to Joe was not just unfair, but unjustified, and she wasn't ready to face those consequences yet.

By the time they reached the salon Freya worked in, Ellie felt like she'd been dragged all over the city. Freya pulled up behind a three-story brick building and led Ellie up a set of stairs that looked like they could crumble into a pile of rust at the slightest misstep. The metal steps groaned under their weight as Freya led the way to the third floor. When they walked inside, another girl around Freya's age sat at the front counter and looked at them in confusion.

"I thought you were off today," the girl said. Freya dismissed her with a shrug.

"Just housekeeping things," she said as she continued through the salon without missing a beat.

The salon was broken up into rooms, giving each stylist their own space. Most of the stylists left their doors open, and Ellie peered inside as they made their way to the back of the building. When they rounded the corner into Freya's studio, Ellie stopped in her tracks.

"What's going on?" Ellie looked towards where Tessa sat in a chair along the wall, Joe waiting next to her. She blinked, making sure she wasn't hallucinating. Upon seeing and hearing Ellie, Joe sprang to his feet, obviously just as unaware of what was happening as Ellie was.

"You told me you were getting your hair done," Joe said as his wife walked away from him.

"You two are going to talk it out amongst yourselves," she said, sounding pleased with herself. "And you're not leaving until you figure it out."

Ellie watched the scene unfold with a gaped mouth, too stunned to process what was happening. By the time she realized that Freya and Tessa were leaving, they had shoved past both Ellie and Joe so they were on the other side of the door before it clicked shut.

Ellie huffed and stomped to the closed door, but when she tried to push it open, it resisted.

"Let me try," Joe said, stepping in. He managed to crack the door open enough for Ellie to peer through and find Tessa and Freya sitting on the floor with their backs propped against the door.

"Are you two insane," Ellie asked through the crack in the door as Joe struggled to keep it open against the bodies on the other side. "You're kidnapping me! Again!"

Tessa, impervious to Ellie's accusation, glanced over her shoulder and shrugged.

"Tough. Work it out."

The door slammed in Ellie's face as Freya pressed more of her weight against it, leaving Ellie and Joe locked inside the small studio together.