Kaylee rode home with the Finleys to dig through Anise's stack of underclothes. She was looking for a suitable bra.

After the tenth shapeless thing her grandma wouldn't die in, the younger girl growled in frustration. It was a study of contrasts--a bedroom full of lacy frills and bras that had more to do with the industrial revolution than lace. "You have nothing, not one thing that should be under a sexy dress."

"I don't know how sexy a high school dress code is." Anise meant it as a warning. She knew Kaylee was choosing to ignore the pleading for modesty.

"Take off your bra."

"What?! No!"

"Just do it!"

"Ugh!" Anise had long years of changing on the road to various events with brothers. She found it pretty easy to pull it off without taking off her shirt--but she knew her friend meant topless. She grabbed both at the same time, like she was doing a magic trick, then yanked it up and over without any preparation. "There, you happy?"

"Extremely." The look of glee on Kit's face was a little off-putting. That much exuberance wasn't an appropriate look on a friend's face when staring at the other in all their topless glory. It was way too close to a leer for comfort. "Your boobs are fine without a bra and a decent size, so we can get a dress that looks good braless, then tweak it from there."

"I have never just shown my boobs off before." Anise rubbed her arm in discomfort.

"It shows." The moment was over for Kit. She was gathering up the small things she dumped out of her purse before the bra hunt. "Well, put it back on, we need to go."

Anise was quick to get back in her top and grumbled her way to the truck. Kaylee found a station that could drown out her friend's surliness.

Towards the heart of the city, they tried three free-standing and upscale bridal shops. Those didn't work, although they were ok dresses to Anise. Kit found the perfect dress in the first outdated shop near the entrance of the closest mall they came across. It had an empire waist, and the cloth of the bust clung to her like it was wet, a nude color so that it blended and clung to her skin. The only thing it wasn't was see-through...mostly. That sheer sex appeal of it was enough to make Anise worry--instinct made her hair stand on end. "Are you sure you want to go anywhere near Dean in that?"

Kaylee smoothed her hands over the waist and poked her chest out for the mirror. "I've been thinking about dropping him and asking Bill to take me."

Anise could feel her nails digging into her palms, she had them clenched too tight over this latest confession of nonsense. "You mess with him, and you'll be married before you graduate."

"Would that be so bad?"

"Would that..." Anise found herself pinching the bridge of her nose. "Kaylee, I don't know if he'd be faithful."

"There are worse things than cheaters, Applejack."

Anise huffed. "I don't get the reference! Show it to me, for once!"

That got Kit to smile as she got back into her regular clothes.

"Just don't. Dean is petty, but you can walk away from him at any moment. Bill is getting desperate. He needs someone he can lock away in that house like he's been." Anise raised her voice to talk through the stall's door. Her laugh was more from shock than anything. Not that she was surprised at Kaylee's interest, but more her rush to dive into a 21-year-old's personal hell. If she had shown interest after waiting for a while, then Anise would have understood it better. Get through high school first, then think about her weird cousin.

"You know, I looked him up online." She gave a quarter turn to see if she liked how deep the back dipped, as well.

"Oh, no...".

'We've been talking. He said he's been asked to give a formal deposition. Dad was arrested this morning after attacking a minor."

"Do you know who?"

"No."

"And have you been talking to Aaron?"

"He's been pulling back...you know what? Let's pay for this and go get some ice cream, then we'll try that new place on the other side." Kit managed to sound bored, but Anise knew better. Something about what was going on between the two of them was making her bitter.

The changed subject after mentioning Aaron worried Anise, especially if Kit was going through all the trouble of talking to Bill while still not free of Dean. Was she ignoring Aaron because he was more than she could handle with her world falling apart? Dean? Dean was dumb fun to Kit--and annoying. Clinging to that fool wasn't protection, but an excuse. Cotton was a whole 'nother level. And Aaron... He wanted to fix everything. Did Kit think she was hopeless?

Kaylee couldn't see that she hadn't changed from the girl Anise once knew. Perhaps that jail would always enclose her mind, and hiding would remain her thing for the rest of her life. That thought killed Anise.

But still, they were 4 dress shops in, and Anise hadn't seen a thing she wanted to put on, forget liked. She tried on a few for Kit's sake. They didn't look bad, perfectly fine, but Kaylee refused to let her buy one that didn't stir anything more than that'lldo.

They decided to take a break in the southside mall, to have a treat before continuing the hunt. There was a huge soft-serve store that was decorated for the previous turn of the century. If any of it was original, it belonged in a museum, not in a place that reeked of overhauled 80s architecture. They chose a free-standing table in the middle of the shop, instead of the booths.

Sitting for ice cream was fun until an older guy came up and whispered something in Kit's ear. She paled and almost got up, except Anise put her hand down on top of hers and went into her regular rage.

"Excuse me, Mr. Asswipe, could you quit trying to poke random underage girls with your short stump in public?" She said it loud enough that the first few tables started glancing at them uneasily.

"You stay out of it..." The man hissed that out before he found out it was a mistake.

Anise stood and yelled. "Get your dick out of her back you incontinent dribble!"

Poor Kit buried her face in her hands as Anise prepared for whatever he tried to do to shut her up. She wound up grinning and relaxing as the man stepped around Kaylee to get closer.

A hand landed on the man's shoulder--he slumped in defeat. The muscle this particular tail put into his hand's grip was probably the strongest in their county's force. "Is this man bothering you, ladies?"

"Hey Officer Petty." Anise was all sunshine and spun sugar, for one of Uncle Thomas' men. "Outside your jurisdiction today?"

"It's my day off and your uncle asked me a favor. Now, Miss Kaylee, does this man have something to do with the other issue or is he a new problem?"

The girl whispered, "Same."

"Ok, then you kids go on and I'll wait here for state troopers."

Kit was fast to pick up her ice cream and walk out while Anise thanked their tail. They went from the ice cream parlor to the new dress shop that had opened right next door.

A friendly grandma called out to them. "If you girls are here to try on dresses, please take a seat up here until done, dears."

It was a round seat that curved around a planter, so they could either face in towards the dresses or out to watch the crowd. Given how hard Kaylee was shaking, Anise opted for the more secluded view. The lady running the shop was running through dye formulas to match a pair of heels to a peculiar purple dress.

They did as requested. Who wanted ice cream all over a pretty dress?

Kaylee finished first. "I can't believe you did that."

Anise shrugged. "I was taught to make an ass of myself when I was ten. Aggressive and annoying kids are harder to abduct. Same principle."

"I don't think I could do that. " It took Kit a while to figure out what more to say, as she bit into another spoonful of her Rocky Road.

"Is that why you..."

"Yeah, I'll trade everything I am to feel safe." Kit bit that out quickly. "You don't know what it's like out there."

"Well, it can't be hidden from me forever." She shrugged as she squinted at the last stubborn blip of vanilla ice cream stuck to the wall of the cup--and gave up on it. "Alright, let's see what this lady's got."

After a round of wet wipes to get the sticky off them, they found the dress. It was a gorgeous accordion-pleated halter-cut peach-tone dress that complimented Anise's lightly golden skin--a warm enough pink to handle her more yellow tones. It took long enough to find that Anise forgot about the man who had scared her friend earlier.

But Kaylee hadn't. She clung to Anise's arm as they walked to the truck, searching random faces of strangers for leers of recognition.