"What's in that room?" Mera asked as she passed through the hallway, following closely behind John B. He had wanted to show her something, but when they passed by the locked door that she had seen so many times before, she let her curiosity get the best of her.

John B froze. The light and airy demeanor he usually carried around hardened and she watched him go stiff. Mera thought about taking her question back, but before she could, John B turned, looking at the door. There was a distance in his eyes, a deep pain.

"This is my dad's office," he said and set a hand against the chipped wood. Mera remembered that he said something about losing his dad when they first met. Her heart sunk. Reaching out, she put a hand on his arm, making him flick his eyes toward hers. "They said he was lost at sea. Do you think...."

His painful pause and the shaking of his eyes as he looked at her told Mera exactly what the rest of his question was.

"Show me a picture of him," Mera said. If John B wanted to know if she had eaten his father, she would do anything to settle his mind. It would also make her feel better to know she hadn't killed her new friend's dad. John B walked back down the hallway a little more toward some pictures that were hung on the wall. He looked at one, a smile starting to pull on his lips.

"Here," he said, tapping on the glass. "That's my dad."

Mera peered around John B's shoulder and into the picture. Staring back at her was a kindly looking man with a soft smile on his lips. His hair was long and a scruffy, peppered beard grew from his face. A pair of round glasses sat on the bridge of his nose. Looking at him made Mera smile.

"Hello," she whispered the the man behind the glass. "My name is Mera. I'm your niece."

John B looked down at her, an eyebrow raised. Mera wasn't sure why staring at this man's face made her feel so welcome and yet so sad at the same time. His was a face she felt like she should know, but she didn't.

She didn't recognize him. That was good. There wasn't a single soul she had dragged the depths that she didn't remember. Looking over at John B, who was staring down at her expectantly, she shook her head.

"It wasn't us," Mera said and looked back at the picture. "If your father is dead, it wasn't one of us who killed him."

John B let out an exasperated growl, turning away from her and running his hands through his hair.

"Isn't that a good thing?" She asked. "He still might be alive."

"I don't really care if he's alive or if he's dead, Mera," he said. When he turned back to look at her, tears in his beautiful eyes. "I'm just sick of not knowing. I wake up every morning half expecting him to be passed out on the couch or working in the backyard and every morning it hits me again that he's not here and I don't know why."

Mera let out a slow sigh through her nose and nodded her head.

"Then let's find out," she said firmly.

"What?"

"You and me. And the others if they want to help. We're all smart enough together to figure this out." Mera crossed her arms, determination set.

"What can we do that the cops haven't already done?"

Mera scoffed.

"What are enforcers good for? All they've ever done in my line of business is terrorize people," Mera said. John B almost cracked a smile as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

"To be fair, your line of business was theft, murder, and general swashbuckling."

Mera nodded her head and pursed her lips.

"Fair." Mera took a step closer to John B, putting a hand on his arm once again. "Cos, you want answers and I want to help you get them, anyway that I can."

"What could we do? Where would we even start?"

"Well," Mera turned to look at the closed office door. "What was your dad working on before he went missing?"

John B sighed, pressing his fingers to the bridge of his nose.

"He was looking for the Royal Merchant," he said. Mera remembered him mentioning that too. She nodded.

"I can help with that. I knew the survivor, Denmark Tanny. We worked together," Mera said. John B's eyes widened.

"There was a survivor?" He gawked. Mera looked at him and nodded.

"One. A slave. He lived and supposedly took the gold and-"

John B was pulling the keys from his pocket before she could say anything else, walking toward the lock.

Once the lock was free, John B paused with his hand on the doorknob and let out a calming breath.

"We could call the others and wait for them," Mera told him. "You don't have to do this alone."

John B looked back at her with a soft smile.

"I'm not alone," he said. "I have you."

An unfamiliar feeling bloomed throughout Mera as John B turned back toward the door and pushed it open. A smile pulled gently at her lips and there was a sting of tears in her eyes. She'd only known John B and the others for a few days. How was it that they trusted her so much? And how was it possible that she had grown to trust them?

Mera followed after John B as he stepped into the dark and cluttered room. For a few moments, there was absolute silence as the two looked around. It was only broken by John B's sharp intake of breath. He reached out and took Mera's hand in his. She looked down, shocked at the sudden movement. When he squeezed her hand, she realized he was just looking for an inkling of comfort in a place that was so full of monsters and memories.

"This looks like my father's quarters," Mera said to break the second silence. "His thoughts were always all over the place. No one could really ever understand his methods, except my mother."

John B let out a little laugh.

"Yeah." He walked forward, letting his hand slide out of Mera's as he stepped up to the desk. He ran his hand over a stack of dusty papers. "He never made sense to anyone else but me."

"So, let's figure out what he was working on just before he went out on that boat, who was he working with, everything."

"My dad didn't work with anyone," John B said, sliding into a chair and scooping a pile of papers into his hands.

"Maybe something changed," Mera replied settling herself in a chair across from him. "You never know. We need to go through every possible option."

"Then we're going to need more hands."

"I'll call the others."

An hour later, JJ, Pope, and Kie were all standing in the office, looking around in awe.

"I've slept over a million times," Pope said as he spun in slow circles, taking in everything. "And I've never once seen that door opened."

"Me neither," said JJ, who was poking at a board of old pictures.

"What can we do?" Kie asked, putting her hands on the back of Mera's chair and leaning over her shoulder to read the papers she was holding.

"We're just trying to find out what he was doing before he left," John B said. "Just read anything you can get your hands on. Whatever seems important put in this pile over here."

Kie nodded her head.

"Will do, Boss." She picked up a stack of papers, hopped up onto a counter and started reading. Pope followed suit, but JJ kept wandering.

"Aren't you going to help?" Mera asked, peering up at him. JJ shrugged, picking some paint off of the wall.

"My attention span doesn't like sitting and reading for extended periods of time," he said with a playful smile. Mera raised an eyebrow.

"Well, here. Look through these pictures then. See if anything stands out to you," she said, shuffling through some of her papers and handing them to him. He smiled at her.

"Yes, ma'am," he said in a southern drawl.

"Thank you, darling," she mocked before returning to her papers. Once again, she missed the red tint of JJ's ears as she looked away. What she didn't miss was the way John B cocked a brow at her when she glanced up at him.

"What?" she said. John B shook his head and let out a little laugh.

"Nothing, cos."

They spent the next few hours doing nothing more than this. Except JJ, who had to go outside and kick a tree for a few minutes to take out his pent up energy. Eventually, John B set down his papers and let out a heavy breath.

"Anyone else starving?" he asked.

"God, I thought you'd never ask," Pope groaned, putting his papers down.

"I call shotgun!" JJ pulled himself all the way into the house (having been sitting in an open windowsill, one leg outside and one in) and ran for the front door. Kie rolled her eyes as Pope raced after him.

"The Wreck?" Kie asked, sliding off of the counter where she'd been perched.

"Sure," John B said. Kie nodded her head as she lifted her arms, stretching out her back. Mera pushed herself out of the seat and dropped a hand on John B's shoulder, giving it a light squeeze.

"Thank you," he said to her, staring down at a picture of him and his dad. Mera just gave him a smile before falling in step with Kie.

~~~

It wouldn't be a day on Kildare Island if everything went perfectly to plan.

As soon as the bus pulled up to the Wreck, JJ let out an over-exaggerated groan from the front seat. He stopped flicking his lighter lid.

"Looks like we've got company," he said. Mera turned and peered out the front window. Her stomach dropped when she saw Rafe standing out by his motorcycle with Topper, Sarah, and another boy that Mera hadn't yet met.

"We'll just ignore them and they'll ignore us," Pope said confidently.

"Because that always works so well," grumbled John B as he put the bus in park.

"As long as JJ doesn't say anything stupid and Mera doesn't punch anybody, we'll be fine," Pope said, his tone no less confident than before. Mera and JJ locked gazes and both rolled their eyes.

Kie was the first to open the side door, uncharacteristically silent. Of course she was. Sarah was there. Mera fully intended on getting to the bottom of their fued, hoping that she could somehow help to mend it, but now was definitely not the time, especially not when Rafe was standing right there.

Their secret friendship had to stay secret, for her sake and for his. All Mera could do was pray that he wouldn't call attention to her as she clambered after Kie, who spared no time in strolling up to the Wreck as if the other group of teens weren't there.

"Oh, hey, John B," Topper said, smiling as the boys got out of the car.

"Ignore him," Pope whispered. Mera slowed to a stop, turning just enough to indicate she was waiting for her friends. Her gaze passed over Rafe's briefly and she stiffened. They both looked away.

"Hi, Mera," Sarah said with a smile. "How are you?"

"I'm going well," Mera replied with a smile. Topper snaked an arm around Sarah's waist. Mera heard Kie suck in an irritated breath from behind. "Just hungry."

"Aren't we all," Rafe said, putting his hands up in the air. "What if we all ate together? My treat."

There was a series of eyerolls from everyone present. The only one who seemed to like the idea was Rafe, who was smiling. He met Mera's gaze again and she pressed her lips together, doing her best to communicate how badly she did not want to be doing this.

"Come on." Rafe elbowed Topper, who knocked into Sarah, who sent her brother a death glare as she wrapped her arms around her stomach. "It'll be fun."

Everyone was frozen solid, rooted where they stood. Mera glanced over at JJ, whose jaw was clenched tight, his gaze fixed on Rafe in a glare.

"I don't care what we do," Pope said tentatively, speaking as if he was walking on glass. "I just wanna eat."

"So it's settled." Rafe walked forward and clapped JJ on the shoulder with one of his large hands. Mera flinched. Rafe turned toward her, walking up the ramp right past her. "This will be fun, yeah?"

Mera gave him her best glare as he walked by. Topper, Sarah, and the other boy followed after him quickly, but it took the others a little bit longer.

"So much for ignoring them," John B grumbled to Pope who sighed and dipped his head.

"Why can't we just have one normal meal?" He whined as the two of them walked toward the glass door.

"Are we really doing this?" Kie asked, arms crossed as she watched Sarah and Topper slid into the booth that her father had led them to.

"Do we have a choice?" Mera replied, her eyes fixed on Rafe who wore the biggest innocent smile she had ever seen. Her hands clenched into fists and she heavily considered punching him in the face again.

"I vote we make a break for it," said JJ, standing on the other side of Mera.

"You're really gonna run away from free food?" Mera asked him. He sighed and his stomach rumbled in response to her question. "Right. In we go."

"Hey, Dad," Kie said as she pushed the door open.

"You want to explain to me what exactly is happening here?" Mike Carrera said, leaning over the counter.

"If I could, I would tell you," Kie said and rolled her eyes, making her dad chuckle.

"Mera," Mike said, turning to look at her. "How are you doing?"

"Better, thank you," Mera told him. She had come up with an easy lie that she ate too many Swedish Fish and they gave her strange dreams and that nightmares weren't usual occurrences for her. Still, he seemed to worry.

"You ever need anything, you let me know," he told her before nodding over at JJ. "JJ."

"Hey," was the boy's response.

Mera followed Kie and JJ to the table. Kie sat as far away from Sarah as she possible could, sitting in between John B and the edge of the table across from Pope. JJ sat between Sarah and John B, leaving only one spot for Mera. Right across from him, in between Rafe and the other boy. She gave JJ a quick glare, but he didn't see it.

Mera slid into her seat as quietly as she could, not wanting to draw attention to herself.

"I'm Kelce," the boy said, extending a hand for her. Mera shook it amicably and gave him a strained smile. She turned her back almost completely on Rafe to give Kelce her full attention (and to pretend that Rafe was not there).

"Mera."

"Rafe says you're new around here."

"Yeah, I just moved from California."

"Really? Why would you trade California for this?" Kelcce laughed.

"Oh, you know, family or something like that," Mera glanced over to John B with a smile, who pretended to be way too interested in the menu.

"You have family in the OBX?" Kelce asked as he took a drink of water.

"John over there is my cousin," Mera said, pointing at him. Kelce choked on the water he was drinking, forced to cover his mouth with his hand.

"No fucking way."

Mera laughed as she watched John B roll his eyes and mutter something under his breath.

"Yes fucking way."

"Well, damn." Kelce and Mera both laughed for a moment. "I'm glad to finally meet you. Rafe talks about you all the time."

Mera felt ice run through her veins and she felt her cheeks heat up. Rafe spluttered through his own drink from the other side of her. Across the table, JJ tightened his grip around his knife.

"All good things, I'm sure." Mera tried to keep the sneer out of her voice, but she wasn't sure she succeeded.

Mike came over to take orders just after that. JJ asked for the most expensive thing on the menu, sending Rafe a cocky smirk which made Mera huff angrily. Rafe seemed completely unphased and ordered the exact same thing.

Rafe ignored Mera most of the night, so she was caught in pleasant small talk with Kelce, which wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. Considering who his friends were, he wasn't the worst person to have a conversation with. She felt JJ tap her shin from underneath the table, making her look at him. She had to stifle a bout of laughter when she saw two straws sticking out of his nose.

"Watch this," he said, leaning the straws into his almost completely full water cup.

"JJ, no," Kie pleaded, dropping her chin into her propped up hands. Mera just watched on with an amused smile on her face. He sent her a wink just before blowing as much air out of his nose and through the straws as possible. Mera nearly shrieked with laughter as the water started to bubble as if it was boiling, spilling over the rim and onto the table.

"Classy," Rafe said, his voice tight.

A waiter brought out their food. It was a mad scramble to get all the right things, but when everyone finally had their meal, the tension started to build up once again.

"So, Mera," Sarah said, twisting her fork around the shrimp pasta. "There's a party at my house this weekend and I was wondering if you maybe wanted to go."

"Oh, um-"

Kie slammed her water cup down on the wood table.

"You're just going to invite her and not everyone else here?" Kie asked, gripping the glass in her hand so tight that Mera was afraid she was going to shatter it. Pope and John B ate slowly, their eyes flicking between Sarah and Kie. Kelce seemed completely unbothered, minding his own business as he ate. JJ and Rafe were caught in an eating-slash-glaring contest.

"It's Top's birthday," Sarah said, placing a hand over Topper's that made Kie glare even harder. "I didn't think you would come if I asked."

"You could have asked anyway."

"Kiara, do you want to come to Topper's birthday this weekend?" Sarah asked, her voice tight and rising steadily.

"No, I fucking wouldn't," Kie hissed, shoving her chair backward and storming off. Mera cringed, standing to follow her. For the first time since sitting down, Rafe acknowledged her presence by grabbing onto her elbow.

"Don't touch her," JJ said.

"I can speak for myself, JJ," Mera snapped. She snatched her arm from Rafe's grip. "Don't touch me."

"My sister asked you a question, Mera," he said, looking up at her. Mera sighed.

"Sarah, thank you for the offer. I'll have to think about it," Mera said, trying to give Sarah an honest smile. Sarah just nodded, pulling her hand from Topper's and leaning back in her chair, looking defeated. "Happy early birthday, Topper."

"Thank you, Mera." The smile the boy gave her felt fake, but she wasn't sure why.

Pope stood up from his chair, obviously still thinking about Kie, and went to find her.

"This fish is really good," John B said, looking at his plate as he tried to fill the awkward silence that followed Pope's departure.

"Yeah," Kelce agreed. Mera had barely even touched her food, but her stomach was rolling with discomfort.

"You wanna take this outside?" Rafe growled, suddenly standing up.

"Let's fucking go, dude," JJ snapped in return.

"What-"

Mera didn't even have time to ask a question before both boys booked it for the front door.

John B and Topper glanced at each other for a moment before following after their friends.

"Topper!" Sarah cried. Soon, she too was gone. Mera let out a sigh, slouching in her chair while Kelce continued to eat his food in peace.

"They're fighting, aren't they?" Mera huffed, looking at her food. Kelce nodded slowly.

"They're definitely fighting."

"How's the fish?" She asked, picking up her spoon again to start eating. Somewhere outside, there was a scream and a loud crashing sound.

"It's amazing. Mr. Carrera always makes the best food."

"Could I try a bit?"

"Sure, as long as I can try some of that soup."

Kelce and Mera swapped dishes as the sounds of shouting grew louder.

"Man, that is some good soup," Kelce said.

"Right?" They swapped plates again. "And that fish is cooked to perfection."

"It always is."

"Do you think Sarah would mind if I...?" Mera nodded toward Sarah's nearly full plate. Kelce shook his head.

"She's not likely to come back for it."

"Great. You want some?"

"Hell yeah."

The two picked food off of the left over plates, chatting back and forth and moaning over how good all the food was until the front door burst open once again.

"Mera," a sweaty and bloody faced John B said. "We're leaving."

Mera stood up quickly, grabbing one last roll of bread.

"It was wonderful to meet you, Kelce," she said as she shimmied around him.

"And you too," he replied. "We should do this again sometime."

Mera looked outside and grimaced.

"Maybe not."

"Nah, probably not."

"See you around?"

"Yup."

With that, Mera rushed outside to join her friends in the bus.

"Fat load of help you were," JJ huffed at Mera as she held an ice pack to his eye. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"I'm sorry I didn't want to the food to go to waste," she said.

"You sat there and ate with Kelce while we got beat up?"

"Yes, because I try not to act like a child," she snapped at him. JJ grumbled and crossed his arms over his chest. Kie drove and Pope was in the passenger seat, leaving Mera in the back with the bloodied up boys. It wasn't anything too serious, just a few bruises and a busted lip or two, but they still looked miserable.

"Well, that was delightful," Pope mused in a mocking tone. "And I didn't even get to finish my dinner."

"Trust me, it was really good," Mera told him. He turned around and stuck his tongue out at her, making her laugh quietly. "On the bright side, Rafe still had to pay for everything."

That didn't really make anyone else feel any better.

"What's going on with you and Rafe anyway?" JJ asked. Mera scowled down at him, her heart starting to pound.

"Nothing. I work at his house, that's all," she told him as she moved over to John B to help him clean the blood off of his nose.

"I work at his house and there's nothing weird between us," John B said.

"Hate to break it to you, buddy," Pope said, "but you're not a smoking hot girl."

Mera's face flushed as Kie scolded Pope, who didn't really seem to understand what exactly he had said wrong until it was too late.

When Mera looked back at JJ, he was still watching her carefully. He wasn't glaring like he was before, but he definitely wasn't happy. He was getting suspicious. She did her best to smile at him before finally settling down. They were mostly silent all the way back to the Chateau. The only sound to be heard was the rumbling of Pope's stomach.

~~~

Pope and John B raided the fridge when they got back, nearly fighting over the only non-expired can of yogurt. Kie went straight home. JJ flopped on the couch, pulling a magazine out from under his pillow. He refused to look up at Mera as she leaned against the wall, laughing quietly as Pope and John B bickered.

She had a feeling that JJ was mad at her. Part of her wanted him to just come out and say it so that she could just explain everything without feeling like an idiot. Another part of her wanted to ignore him right back. She went with the latter choice. The rest of the night, Mera and JJ didn't speak to each other, talking instead through Pope and John B, who were far too hungry to notice.

By the time everyone was ready for bed, Mera could barely keep her eyes open.

"Night," she called sleepily to the boys, who had all elected to sleep on the pullout together, leaving her the spare room.

"Night," Pope and John B chorused, already half asleep.

"Night, princess."

Mera was almost too sleepy to hear JJ. Almost.

~~~

Going to work the next day was probably one of the most nerve wracking things she had done in a long while. Even if Rafe blamed her for how last night ended, Mera didn't care. He had started it. She was more than prepared to take him on in a duel if that was what he wanted. She was mostly afraid that word would get back to Ward and he would fire her or that Sarah wouldn't want to be her friend anymore. Neither of which sounded fun to her.

Luckily, Sarah greeted her with the same smile she did every morning and Ward was nowhere to be found.

"Did you think about coming to Topper's birthday tomorrow night?" Sarah asked, helping Mera move a large fridge out of the way so she could dust off a wooden nightstand.

"Not yet," Mera said. "Last night was a little bit crazy."

Sarah rolled her eyes.

"If my brother wasn't such a dick all the time, I think I could actually make friends with you guys. I just wish his reputation hadn't tarnished mine." There was a real sadness in her voice as she spoke.

"I don't think it's your brother," Mera told her truthfully. Sarah froze.

"What?"

"It's Kiara. Whatever happened between you two, that has to be fixed before there's any hope at all of you being friends with the others."

Sarah seemed to deflate.

"Kiara will never forgive me," she said.

"I don't believe that."

When Sarah looked up at Mera, there were large tears in her eyes.

"I fucked up, Mera," she whispered, her words shaking and full of grief. "Real bad. And it's been so long and I let the bad blood between us go on for too long and I don't think I can ever make things right with her again."

Mera sighed and put a hand on Sarah's shuddering shoulder.

"Do you want to make things right?" Sarah nodded vehemently. "Then don't give up. Kie will come around eventually."

Sarah nodded again, slower this time, and swallowed.

"Do you want me to find you some stain or something for that?" Sarah asked, pointing at the nightstand. "It'll make it look better."

"I would really appreciate that, Sarah," Mera said with a smile.

"Be right back."

Rafe didn't come to see Mera at all that day, or the next day for that matter. Mera was disappointed only because she wanted to fight at him so badly. JJ was warming up to her again, but still really only spoke to her on the rare occasion. Mera was also ready to fight him too. Hell, she was prepared to fight them both if it came down to it. All she would need was a sword....

"So, Mera," John B said from across the table, pulling her from her thoughts. "You decided if you're going over to Sarah's tonight?"

"Um, yeah, actually," Mera said, shaking her head. "I was going to head over in a bit. Sarah is going to lend me something to wear."

John B nodded his head slowly, but JJ just crunched on his burnt toast.

"You'll be careful, right?" John B said. Mera watched him carefully for a few seconds.

"You're not seriously going to father me right now."

"What?"

"My own father has said those exact same words to me before a party," Mera said, now trying to hide a smile. John B scowled, flustered.

"I'm not...I just wanna make sure...I mean, you're kinda my responsibility and I want you to be safe," John B said, crossing his arms. Mera couldn't help but laugh as she stood and stood next to him.

"Sure, Dad." Her comment made John B roll his eyes.

"Be sure to bring protection," JJ said almost bitterly. The light atmosphere dampened as Mera and John B both turned to look at him.

"I don't have a sword," Mera told him. JJ's eyelids fluttered shut and she could tell that he was trying not to laugh at her, which made her mood turn sour.

"That's not the kind of protection he means," John B said with a slight upturn of a smile. She scowled down at him, not really wanting to ask for an explanation but hoping he would give one anyway. "He's talking about condoms, dear cousin."

"I'm unfamiliar with the term."

"You're telling me you went out tapping without condoms?" JJ asked, leaning forward on the table, crossing his hands in front of him. "Yeesh."

"Will one of you please act like a grownup and explain to me what you're talking about?" Her tone was harsher than she had meant it, but it seemed to snap John B into order.

"They're for sex, Mera. You...wrap your willy with it to protect from diseases and to keep the girl from getting pregnant," John B said, refusing to look at her.

"Oh. Hmm. That sounds rather useful. I'll be sure to bring one of those then," she said. "Thank you, JJ."

He blanched at her statement.

"No, you weren't-" He froze and scowled. "Fine. Whatever. Do what you want."

With that, he pushed him out of his seat and walked out the front door.

"I'm extremely confused," Mera said. "Do you mind explaining to me what just happened?"

"I may be thinking that JJ doesn't want you sleeping with anyone at that party," John B explained, his eyes fixed on the door, a small smirk on his face. He looked up at Mera, who continued to scowl.

"I don't see the problem," she said. John B heaved out a sigh and pushed himself out of his chair. He dropped a hand on her shoulder and pressed his lips into a fine line.

"I don't either. I mean, JJ goes after any one who has a heartbeat. I can't imagine why he'd be upset with you for doing the same thing."

With that, John B walked toward the back of the house, leaving Mera alone in the silence, painfully aware of the dead heart that refused to beat in her chest.

~~~

Mera stood scowling in front of the mirror. Sarah stood off to the side, trying to hide an excited grin behind her hands.

"Do you like it?"

Mera hummed quietly to herself. She didn't quite know yet if she liked the outfit. Sarah had put her in a loose white top with long, flowing sleeves, almost similar to the kinds of blouses that Mera was used to wearing. But the sleeves came off the shoulders and the collar dipped a little lower than Mera may have been comfortable with. Sarah paired the shirt with a brown skirt that twirled beautifully, but was rather short. It was the color and the fabric type that Mera might have worn as pants, but never this cut. There were sandals on her feet, but she was sure she was going to take them off. Her hair was braided and Sarah had even put makeup on her. It was completely different from what she remembered makeup being like.

Somehow, the person staring at her looked like her, but didn't look like her at the same time.

"Wait, I have an idea," Sarah said, running toward one of her dressers. "It'll just tie the entire thing together."

She returned with a thick, dark brown belt. It was less of a belt and more of a corset. Mera's eyes widened at the sight of it. She had always wanted a corset, but her mother had never let her get one.

"Turn around."

Mera did as she was told and Sarah wrapped the thing around her, clipping it behind her back. Mera expected there to be some tightness or discomfort, but she felt perfectly fine. Turning back toward the mirror, Mera nodded her head. It did really pull the entire outfit together. The large buckle in the front reminded her of a belt that she used to wear almost daily. The smile on Mera's face became real as she smoothed out the skirt.

"I love it," she said, looking at Sarah. "Thank you."

"No problem," Sarah said with a wave of her hand. "Anything for you. Come on now, the boys will be waiting for us."

Sarah hooked her arm through Mera's and started to pull her toward the door.

"The...the boys? Why?"

"They're our protection for the night." Mera scowled. That was the second time she had heard that word and this time, she didn't think it meant a sword or a condom.

"I'm confused."

"Listen, two beautiful girls like us can't go to a party alone, not even in our own house. You need someone to always hold your drink while you're in the bathroom. You need someone watching your back while you're dancing or playing games. Topper is looking out for me, obviously, and Kelce said he'd look out for you. Naturally, that means they are our dates."

"Wait, what? Drinks? Dates? Kelce?"

"I asked Rafe to watch out for you, but he said he wasn't coming, so I had to ask Kelce. Haven't you gone to a party before? Always make sure someone is watching your drink so you don't get drugged. It's rule number one."

"God," Mera breathed as Sarah pulled her down the stairs.

"Yeah, crazy world, right? Girls can't go to a simple birthday party without being afraid of getting attacked." It was a serious subject to Mera, something she had seen happen so many times that she was almost shocked to hear how casually Sarah was talking about it. But then she realized that Sarah spoke so plainly because it was so rampant. Sarah had desensitized herself to the reality of the world so she could still enjoy a night with her friends without the crippling fear of being assaulted.

"I'll protect you," Mera said seriously, pulling Sarah to a stop. "No one will hurt you."

Sarah gave her a soft smile and squeezed her hand.

"Thank you. I will always have your back, too."

Even though Sarah looked calm, Mera could feel her heart pounding through her hands.

"Come on, the boys are waiting," Mera said, a smile spreading across her face.

"Damn right they are." Walking up the stairs was Topper and Kelce, both dressed spiffily.

"Baby!" Sarah cried, running forward to embrace her boyfriend. "Happy birthday!"

"Thanks, babe," he said, putting his arms around Sarah's shoulders and giving her a kiss.

"Happy birthday," Mera told him as Kelce walked forward to stand beside her. Topper barely heard her, too occupied with Sarah's lips. "They're not going to talk to us for the rest of the night, are they?"

Kelce sighed and shook his head.

"It's unlikely."

"Great."

"You wanna head down? Everything's in full swing."

Mera sucked in a deep breath, calming her nerves the best she could before nodding.

"Why the hell not?"

Kelce walked beside Mera as they made their way down the steps. Mera's eyes scanned the crowd of people waiting at the bottom and she felt her breath hitch.

"You good?" Kelce asked. Mera nodded, but her teeth were sinking into her lower lip until she tasted blood.

"I just haven't been around this many people in a long time," she told him honestly. "It's a bit overwhelming."

"I take it you weren't a party girl in California."

"No, I definitely was. I've just been...away...from the lifestyle for a while."

"Well," Kelce said with a heavy sigh. "Why don't we just walk through these people to that bar over there and drink until we're drunk. How about that?"

Mera felt herself smile and she nodded.

"I would love that."