I wake up the next morning to the sound of a Beyoncé song coming from the bathroom. My phone says it's just past seven am, which is kind of late for me but definitely too early for Hannah to be up.

Yesterday, we hung out at the waterfall until late afternoon before hiking back to my car, getting some dinner and finding a hotel. Then we watched basketball highlights in preparation for the NBA finals until we both passed out. I feel sore after swimming for hours yesterday, but I don't mind.

"Hannah?" I call, yawning. "You in the shower?"

Of course she doesn't answer but I take that as a yes, then I snuggle underneath my covers and focus on my phone. I've got a bunch of texts from a whole list of people: Chloe, Kel, Reese, even my grandma's asking about the movie we watched last Christmas.

I wonder if she knows about my dad as I send her the movie name and wish her a good day. Since I haven't heard anything about it from her, probably not. And if mom hasn't told her then I'm sure as hell not going to.

I don't open Reese's message. Kel's just calling me ugly, so I tell him he's uglier and Chloe's sent a picture of her cat and a message asking me where we are. I tell her that we're in D.C, and she calls me back almost immediately.

"What's taking you so long?" She demands. "You should be here by now!"

"Sorry, we keep getting distracted." I say. "Hey, did you see my waterfall pics? It was great down there, we should visit one sometime!"

"I saw them, it looked nice, wet, whatever. So are you getting here today? D.C's like four hours away, you can totally make it in that time. And I have work tomorrow but I can leave early so we can hang out or something? Yeah? I can make reservations for dinner tonight –"

"Wait, slow down Chloe." I say, stopping her little speech. "We probably won't make it tonight either, we have plans. And we haven't even seen the city yet."

She sighs loudly, dramatically. "Alright, whatever. But tomorrow. You'll be here tomorrow, right?"

"I'll try my best?" I scratch the back of my head, feeling irritated at all her demanding. "I'll see what Hannah says-"

"Great! We can have a movie night. You like superhero movies right? I'm pretty sure they have the Avengers on Netflix."

I blink, surprised at the speed of this conversation. I'm used to listening to her speak but not like this. It's like she's talking to herself and doesn't care if I'm here or not.

Hannah comes out of the bathroom fully dressed while Chloe's talking about the Hudson River. She shows me a thumbs up when she sees me on the phone, then turns down the song. Then another song comes on and she turns it up again.

"Sorry. Beyoncé's angel voice cures my pains." She explains when I send her a look.

"Weirdo." I shake my head. She just sticks her tongue out at me.

"Nate? You're still listening, right?" Chloe says.

I pull another face, because I completely forgot she was there. "Yeah, yeah, I'm still listening. But I have to go –"

"Ok. I know I'm being pushy and I'm sorry." She interrupts. "But I really miss home. And you, you big nerd. So, I'm just real excited to see you again."

Oh. My irritation starts to disappear and I relax against my pillows, smiling at nothing. "I miss you too. We'll try our best to be there tomorrow, okay?"

"Yeah. I'll see you then."

We say goodbye. I get out of bed and grab an outfit for the day. Hannah's lying in bed watching the ceiling, listening to the music playing from her phone speaker. Her hands are clasped over her stomach like she's thinking hard about something. I throw a pillow at her on my way to the bathroom, but she doesn't even flinch.

"What are you doing?" I ask, stopping.

"Oh, apart from feeling like my body is giving up on me and that I'm two cramps away from death, I'm not doing anything."

Ah. Alright. "Let me know if you want any company."

She barks out a short, sarcastic laugh. I leave her to it.

She hasn't moved an inch when I come out of the bathroom. And the Beyoncé music has become increasingly more depressing. Even though it's strange and worrying, I just let her do her thing and focus on getting my hair to feel less like drywall in the bathroom mirror.

"I have a question for you." She calls, dragging her voice as she speaks.

"What's the question, friend?" I reply.

"Do you like bubble tea?"

"I don't know what that is, but it's probably bad for me." I say in a slightly raised voice. "Is it good?"

Hannah's head suddenly pops up around the corner of the bathroom door. I almost jump.

"It's great. We should get some after lunch with my grandma inevitably ends terribly." She says casually, moving so she's in the bathroom. "Plus, my cramps are killing me, so hopefully a little bubble tea will help."

"Cramps? In your legs or something?" I make eye contact with her reflection in the mirror, watching as she raises her eyebrows and sends me a funny look.

"No, my stomach." She says slowly.

"You didn't tell me you were having stomach pains." I say, actually a little offended. No wonder she's been lying down and playing I Am Sasha Fierce on repeat. "Was it something you ate? Did you take anything for the pain?"

Hannah stares at me blankly before she rolls her eyes and heads out of the bathroom. "You're such a boy! Oh my God."

"What?" I gather my hair care stuff together and follow her out.

"Promise you won't do that boy thing where you get all grossed out and treat me like a pariah?"

"I'm not even sure I know what a pariah is." I confess.

"Guess."

Why is she making me guess what words mean instead of telling me what's wrong with her? I sigh and sit on the edge of my hastily made up bed, scratching the back of my neck as I think.

"It's like an outcast, right?" She nods. "I can't outcast you, Han, there's only two of us in the room."

"Gee, thanks Nate."

I think she's being sarcastic. Actually, I'm sure she's being sarcastic, but I don't know how to combat that, so I won't. Whatever. I shake my head and get off my bed to pack away the last of my stuff, feeling annoyed and just a little bit stupid.

"You need to tell me if there's something wrong with you, Hannah." I say in what I hope is a warning voice. "If there's a problem then I gotta know just in case I have to call a doctor. Can we afford a trip to the emergency room? Are you under your parent's insurance? Or your sister's? Is that how –"

"I'm on my period."

"- it works?" I finish. Then I register what she's said and stop. "Oh! Right, you're a girl!"

"Glad you remember." She says sarcastically.

I open my mouth to say something, but she sends me a look. So I go back to packing my bag. Then, because it's awkward and I think I'm treating her like a pariah, I clear my throat.

"Google some bubble cup coffee places in D.C so we can get some." I say, pulling my backpack onto my shoulders.

She looks up from her phone, squinting. "Did you mean bubble tea?"

"Isn't that what I said?"

☼ ☼ ☼

I try not to be insufferable on the drive to D.C to make Hannah more comfortable. Unfortunately, that means I give her control of the music, which leads to her playing the entire High School Musical 3 discography multiple times. It was fun at first, but this is our third play through and I can't lie, I'm no longer feeling it.

"High school musical!" She shrieks. I have gotten used to her shrieking, so it doesn't faze me. "Who says we have to let it go! Nate, you got next!"

"It's the best part we've ever known, step into the future." I sing along, out of tune. I didn't know these lyrics before this car drive. I'm tired. "Han, where are we going?"

She sits back in her chair. "I think we're getting Mexican. What did you put in Google Maps?"

"The White House." She chuckles. "Could you update the address?"

She takes my phone from the dock, tapping in the new directions. We're stuck in traffic about twenty minutes out of the city but the navigator reroutes us anyway, adding an extra ten minutes to our journey. Hannah sits back and starts mumbling along quietly to what she calls 'the greatest Troy Bolton emo song' playing through my speakers.

The car barely budges, but we sit tight anyway. I drum my fingers against the steering wheel as the music winds down and something upbeat plays. Hannah doesn't sing along this time. When I look at her, she's frowning out of the window. I assume she doesn't wanna talk so I leave it.

"You know what? No." She sits up all of a sudden. "I'm not gonna be grumpy today. She doesn't have that much power over me."

"You call your period a 'she'?" I ask. "Oh wow, that's different. Is that common among girls?"

"Can you not? I was talking about my grandma!" She rolls her eyes and reaches into the backseat, grabbing her ukulele and messing up her hair. She winces as she sits down, and I wonder if I should take a detour to the nearest hospital. "Anyway, I am going to play a song to boost the mood in here!"

Hannah turns off the High School Musical 3 soundtrack and instantly my ears are thankful. But then, she starts strumming her uke furiously.

"Give me a word that rhymes with boy!" She says.

"Uh..." I open and close my mouth a few times, wondering what I should say. "- toy?"

She blows a raspberry. And then she starts singing.

"It's Kenickie and Fish boy, on an adventure to find a toy! In D.C!" She whines. My eye twitches, and my ears aren't that thankful anymore. "Fish boy's real name is Nate and he has big ears that I, Hannah, appreciate! Because it means he's always listening to me!"

Shocked, I start staring at my reflection in the rear-view mirror. Are my ears big? I never thought my ears were big. I thought I had normal sized ears.

"I asked him what his middle name was, he opened his mouth and guffawed – Hey, what's your middle name again?"

"Zion."

The uke strumming stops. "What, like the mountain in the Bible?"

"It's actually a hill." I correct. 

"Oh-kay. Well..." She starts strumming again, faster this time. "-Zion. Like a hill in the Bible!"

She carries the last note on for longer than she really should. It's not even in time with the tune she's strumming but I don't tell her because I'm still thinking about my big ears. She has to be making it up. Someone would've told me if they were big before, right? I've been alive for almost eighteen years and this is the first I'm hearing about this. I can't believe nobody told me my ears were big.

Hannah's song goes on for a ridiculously long time. She rhymes 'bubble tea' with 'company' and makes up a story about me falling in love with a girl named Penny in D.C, all because it rhymes. Then she goes off on a tangent about how much she loves Klay Thompson and meanwhile, I can't stop thinking about what she's said about my ears.

By the time her song is over, we're already in D.C and I'm driving in circles looking for parking. She strums a last, long chord before striking a power pose and throwing her ukulele into the back. It hits the seats with a loud twang. I think she's snapped a string.

"What did you think?"

"Wow. That was amazing." I say flatly.

"I'm glad you think so. Now, say it like you mean it."

"Can you help me look for parking please?"

Hannah sniffs loudly, but she sits up properly for this. "Isn't that a space over there? Or do you hate parallel parking?"

I shake my head and head over to the spot she's found, thankful that I can stop driving. My legs feel stiff and uncomfortable and I'm starting to get irritated because I haven't eaten in three hours. Plus, we have to walk to get to the Mexican place because we passed it about five minutes ago, and I am not looking forward to that.

Hannah checks her phone a few times, tapping her foot nervously as I start putting change in the meter to keep my parking space good for at least three hours.

"She's running late, so we don't need to hurry." She blurts out. "Do you wanna get boba first? I can google a place, so we're not stuck waiting –"

"Who's Boba?" I straighten up and rub the bottom of my back. Damn, I need a good stretch. I need a good workout. I wonder if Chloe's apartment has a gym. "Is that a friend of yours or something?"

"It's another name for bubble tea." She explains, patiently. "I'm pretty sure that we can get some before lunch. Oh, and you need more apples, right? Is there a Whole Food's or Trader Joe's 'round here somewhere? Let's get you stocked up on your healthy snacks and whatever it is you athletes eat, we can't have your diet going downhill even further – it's like you said when we were in Atlanta, what would your nutritionist say? Maybe we shouldn't get boba and find a healthy smoothie place instead –"

I stare at her blankly as she goes on a rant about healthy foods. She avoids my gaze but starts pacing by my car, talking about things we can do until my head is swimming with words that I don't understand and I'm about to pass out from hunger pains.

"Hannah, breathe." I interrupt.

She takes a long breath like I asked and stops pacing in front of me. But then she starts frowning and playing with her hair, looking at anything but me. My stomach goes off again and I remember that I don't have the luxury of time to be thinking about how to be nice to her.

"Look, I know you're nervous about meeting your grandma today." I say.

"Me? Nervous? Psh." She stops playing with her hair to slap me gently on the arm. "I'm not nervous."

"Right." I raise my eyebrows. "Anyway. I was gonna say you don't need to be because you'll get through it. Okay?"

Hannah looks at me, her usually small black eyes wide and worried. "Really?" She squeaks.

I suck in a breath. "Yeah, really. I don't know the relationship between you and your grandma –"

"We don't have a relationship." She clears up quickly.

"Well... you don't know how that might change in the next two hours or so, and I know it's scary meeting family suddenly," I wince. "But we're here. And there's no point running away because it'll just... follow. So face it head on."

She stares at me, her eyes still wide, still worried. But then the worry kind of eases up in the corners, and she shows me a version of her signature smile. Yeah, it's small and it's not quite as bright as usual, but I know something I said must've really helped because it's real.

"Thanks Nate." She says sincerely. "Okay. I can't run away from it."

"Hear what she has to say. Then run."

It's not even funny but Hannah laughs like it was anyway. Then she gives me a quick fist bump and marches off down the street in the complete wrong direction. I watch her for a few seconds, letting the voice inside my head make me feel guilty for not following my own advice. But then I squash it, square my shoulders and call after her.

a/n:

you guys ever seen that video of harry styles saying 'it's tuesday init'? that was me five minutes ago when I remembered today is tuesday and I realised I hadn't updated. anyway -

That's seventeen weeks in a row !