Evelyn let out a grumpy sigh, biting the inside of her cheek so hard she almost bled. The sun bounced off her skin angrily, and the looks she received from her new neighbors as she was walking were enough to ruin her whole day. And to top it all off, the stupid chore she'd been assigned was planting and tending to carrots. For hours. She had zero experience with carrots, or any planting for that matter. She hadn't been this annoyed in a long time.

"Hey, stranger!" A familiar voice she hadn't heard in practically forever called out to her.

She looked up at the person walking towards her, and her scowled expression softened the slightest bit. "Jake?" Evelyn tilted her head. Troy told her he was studying law, but that was years ago. She figured he'd become successful and moved on with his life now. What was he doing back?

"Long time no see, I know. How are you?" He grinned politely at her. Jake was always so nice to her, but at times she wondered if it was all out of courtesy or if he actually saw her as a person. He was an Otto after all. Growing up, he was the only person on the ranch that had ever shown her goodwill— until Ethan came around. It sucked that she couldn't even trust him.

Evelyn let out a sigh, trying her best to control her facial expressions. "As good as it gets, you?"

"Just waiting for all this to blow over, y'know. Tr-" Jake quickly stopped himself from mentioning the one person he knew she didn't want to hear about. She didn't know how he found out, and even just the first syllable of his younger brother's name made Evelyn want to roll her eyes. Still, she granted Jake a small smile, giving him the impression that it was all water under the bridge. It wasn't. She held her grudges.

"Yeah, me too," she wiped her nose of all the sweat that had accumulated in such a short amount of time. This life was not made for her. "For now, we just plant carrots, I guess."

"Want me to help you?" He raised his eyebrows, his expression reading that he was amused.

     "Well I'm not saying no... but why?" Evelyn only gave him a skeptical look in return. Was he protecting her from something, someone? Her eyes scanned the area around her. The people only gave her quick glances, but she couldn't tell if it was because of her skin tone or the unrelenting sun. She refused to believe the latter.

     "So we can catch up," Jake responded with enthusiasm, which only made the younger girl more suspicious. "And I'm pretty sure you have zero experience with planting things."

     She let out a shallow sigh in response. Maybe he really was all that genuine after all. Evelyn had always been a skeptical person when it came to the ranchers— she had to be, but now that she was back and older, it had only increased. Apparently it had spread to those she'd once trusted as well. "You're right," she let out a genuine chuckle, her eyes fixed on the grass beneath her, "I'd love for you to help me, Jake."

     Evelyn fought the urge to wipe at her sweaty skin for the hundredth time. The sun bared down on her back violently, she couldn't risk wiping off the sunscreen she'd lathered herself in. She tried her best to listen intently as Jake told her about his life before (she had been the one to ask after all) but it was just so hard. "What about you? What was yours?" Jake asked seemingly out of nowhere.

     Evelyn looked up at him. "Huh?" Jake could hear the exhaustion in her voice and fought the urge to laugh. They'd barely been working for an hour.

     "I asked what your major was."

     "Oh! Um, it was communications," she rubbed at her nape, not liking how they were speaking in the past tense. "Sorry, I won't be of much help around here."

     "Don't be sorry, Evelyn. Everyone's capable of learning. Look, I just taught you how to plant carrots!" Evelyn grinned at his positive outlook. It helped relieve her of the uneasy feeling she'd been carrying for weeks. "I'll get us some water, don't go anywhere," he suddenly stood up from his spot in the dirt.

     "Trust me, I won't," Jake gave her a look and nodded. With that, he walked away, leaving her alone.

     Evelyn refused to look up. She only stared at her carrots, copying a few techniques Jake showed her as she moved onto the next row. She softly smiled at the thought of her "new" friend. That's one more than she thought she'd make when she came back.

     A figure kneeled in front of her. Thinking it was Jake, she felt safe enough to look up. Her blood ran cold, her content expression souring in an instant.

     "Don't look at me like that, Ev. I just came to say hello."

     For a second she debated if she should counter or not. She bit her tongue and shook her head, deciding it'd be stupid to give this excuse of a person even a second of her time. She turned her attention back to her carrots.

     "Silent treatment, huh? That's fair," he chuckled to himself. Evelyn clenched her teeth together. She fought harder than she ever had before to keep her composure. He winced. "I see you're doing it Jake's way... well my way is a lot better. Let me show you."

     Evelyn scoffed at the way he swatted her smaller hands out of the way. She finally glanced up at him. He smirked, likely pleased with the reactions she was giving him. She rolled her eyes.

     "Did you see what I did?" No response. He chuckled. "I see your attitude hasn't gotten better after all these years."

     "What do you want from me, Troy?" She spat, completely over the way he faked being polite, just to sneak verbal jabs in between his words.

     "I already told you, Evelyn, I just wanted to say hello," he shrugged, lips curling into a smile. Evelyn felt the anger begin to spread throughout her body. Her cheeks turned red. There was no way he got to play innocent after what he did to her.

     "Well then hello," Evelyn didn't sugarcoat her words, and she didn't care how rude she sounded either. Troy deserved nothing, especially nothing that came from her. "You can leave me alone now."

     "Wow, you're even meaner than before," he nudged her shoulder. Her scowl deepened. "I guess that's just what the end of the world does to you."

     Evelyn felt her stomach flip. "Please stop talking," she rolled her eyes again, slightly shifting to plant more seeds.

     "You uh- you remember that time you and I were laying in the truck bed, watching the stars?" Troy reminisced as if it were some sweet memory. "You said you didn't want the world to end. You said you still wanted to be able to go to school and spend time with your friends. How are you holding up?"

     "It's really none of your business, but I'm doing just fine," she glared her eyes at him. Evelyn was not doing fine at all, she was the complete opposite actually, but she couldn't let Troy know that. He'd see that she's weak, and that would just make her an easier target.

     "Good to know. I mean, I would've assumed so. It's good to have someone to lean on, a friend. I guess my worries about Ethan were justified after all," Evelyn's head snapped up at the mention of her best friend. She got defensive all of a sudden. Troy had no right bringing that up.

"Troy. I see you found Evelyn," Jake's stern voice spoke up right as Evelyn was about to clap back. She was glad Jake came to save her, but she struggled to push down the unhealthy amount of anger she felt in the moment.

"Yeah, I did," Troy took his brother's presence as his cue to leave. "It's good having you back, Ev. You know where to find me if you need me."

Hearing the sarcastic and meaningless tone the boy from her past used made Evelyn huff. She didn't look up as he walked away, she just turned her focus back to the stupid plants she had work on for another three hours.

"I'm sorry about my brother, Ev-"

"It's fine, Jake," she bit back at the innocent brother. He didn't deserve the attitude, she knew that, but she couldn't help it.

a/n
they were reunited guys...
i hope y'all enjoyed this
chapter as much as i did
writing it!!! so sorry
for any mistakes
wc: 1471
03.18.23