𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙤𝙣𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙬𝙚𝙧, 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙖𝙨𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪.

𝗡𝗔𝗜𝗔𝗥𝗔 𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗘𝗪 𝗛𝗘𝗥 leg over the arm of the couch as Buck walked over, an ice pack in his hands. He placed the pack on her ankle then took a seat in the chair adjacent to Naiara. "How did you manage this again?" He asked.

She shrugged, leaning forward to adjust the ice pack. "It's a long story, Buckaroo. Not sure if I have the energy to tell it." She replied, lying back down and closing her eyes.

"Nosedive, if you don't dont tell that story, I'll make sure you end up on toilet duty for a week." He threatened, leaning forward and putting his hand on Naiara's ankle.

She shot up, glaring at Buck, "You wouldn't." Her eyes narrowed, as did Bucks.

"I would."

Naiara groaned, falling backwards, "Fine. Okay, I'll tell you what happened." Buck clapped, leaning backwards in his seat. "Remember me explaining the conversation I had with Eddie last week?" She asked. Buck nodded in response. "Well, I took his advice."

𝗡𝗔𝗜𝗔𝗥𝗔 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗘𝗗 𝗔𝗧 the three outfits on her bed, her head tilted and both hands on her hips. The outfits were very different, one being a black pant suit with a red shirt. The second was a simple outfit, jeans and a flannel. The third was a bit more fancy, a black cocktail dress with a leather belt. Naiara's dilemma; she didnt know what one to wear.

"Dude. Naiara, answer me." A voice from her phone called out. Her eyes shot from the outfits to her phone, where Jack's face was way too close for comfort. "What could you possibly be worrying about?" He questioned, pulling the phone away from his face.

Naiara picked up her phone then fell backwards onto her bed. "Oh nothing, just the fact that my ex best friends are coming over for dinner to possibly reconcile and I have absolutely no idea what to wear." She shrugged. Jack's face twisted through the screen, an expression somewhere in between judgment and confusion. "There's not typically a dress code for this kinda thing." She added.

Jack sighed, "Show me your options, Bats." A small smirk grew on Jack's face as he teased the nickname, Naiara's face twisting into a snarl.

"How many times have I told you to not call me that?" She groaned, getting up off her bed. Jack shrugged.

"And how many times have I told you I'll always call you that?"

Naiara ignored his response, fliping her camera around and showing the outfits. The first one got an appropriate oohh, the second also got an oohh, the third, on the other hand, got a swift "not that one." Naiara nodded and threw the cocktail dress into her laundry basket, then focused the camera back on the other two.

"How do you think they're dressing?" Jack asked, placing his phone into his locker as he began putting on his uniform.

Naiara shook her head, "No clue, honestly." Jack groaned in response as he buttoned up his shirt. "Okay, well, I know my brother, and I know he'll use any excuse to make anything into a fashion show, but everyone else? No idea."

Jack shot a look Naiara's way, "Your brother is probably gonna dress up fancy, so the others might too. Which means..." He paused, waiting for Naiara to get the hint.

"Don't wear the flannel, got it." She responded, throwing the aforementioned outfit into the laundry basket.

Distant klaxons sounded over the phone, causing Jack to quickly finish getting dressed. "I gotta go, Nai. Tell me how everything goes down, though." He said quickly, then ushered a quick goodbye before hanging up the phone.

Naiara threw her phone on her bed before tugging off her pyjama pants and crewneck sweater. Now wearing nothing but her underwear, Naiara walked over to the mirror hanging on the wall adjacent to her bed. She stared at herself for a moment, running her fingers over the burn marks that she would describe as 'plaguing' her body.

She turned away almost as soon she faced herself. She quickly dressed herself, tucking her red silk shirt into her dress pants. She finished her outfit with a matching black blazer and heeled boots, then made her way out of her bedroom.

Naiara was never a bad chef. She learned a few things when her and Tessa were dating, but before that, she was never a bad chef. For this night, Naiara didn't bother cooking anything too fancy, knowing that most of the food wouldn't be touched anyway. She simply made a rotisserie chicken with some homemade biscuits and mashed potatoes, nothing special.

She plated everything, placing it all in the center of the table, then made up the rest of the table. It was nice enough, but she didn't bother doing anything too put together. After all, nobody was going to pay attention to the table, or the food most likely. Naiara predicted that the only thing happening around the table would be arguing, but anything could happen. It was apparent to Naiara after she finished putting the cutlery on the table that the only thing she really put effort into was her outfit. There had to be one thing.

Not even five minutes had passed since she finished making up the table when she heard her doorbell ring throughout her house. She took a deep breath, smoothing her shirt and pulling down her blazer by the end. She pushed her hair behind both ears as she walked out of the dining room and into the foyer.

The house she lived in wasn't hers. It was technically her parents, but they truly believed that Theo lived there. Being an unnecessarily large house, it was too big for one person, but Theo didn't want Naiara to pay too much for a shit-hole apartment, so he moved in with Dustin, leaving his sister alone in a barren home.

She didn't know who exactly to expect when she opened the door, but she knew who not to expect. She told Theo that William wasn't invited and she had no way to invite Tessa considering she was sat in a prison cell.

Opening the door, Naiara was first greeted by her brother, dressed in a similar pantsuit, "Hello, second best Gallagher." Theo grinned as he extended his arms. Naiara rolled her eyes as she accepted the hug from her brother. Next was Dustin, greeting her with a hug and a kiss to the cheek.

Nora stood awkwardly off the front steps, staring down at her feet as Dustin and Theo walked past Naiara. "You coming in?" Naiara asked, stepping aside, making space for Nora to walk inside. Nora's mouth upturned into a small smile before walking into the house. She looked up as she walked inside, taking everything in. The house didn't look any different from the last time Nora had most likely been over a few months prior, but it was somewhat nostalgic to be back.

"Dinner's on the table, it's all in the middle, so you can plate it yourselves." Naiara half smiled as she walked past Nora and into the dining room.

Everyone quickly sat and plated their food, digging in as an awkward silence set in around them. "It's really good, Naiara." Nora complimented through mouthfuls.

Dustin hummed and nodded, "I almost forgot how good of a cook you are." He said, mouth full of potatoes and biscuit. Theo lightly smacked Dustin's shoulder, a small punishment for talking with his mouth full.

Naiara smiled, "Thank you. Though, I'm no Tessa." She grabbed a small piece of her chicken and put it in her mouth. Nora's head shot up from her food, covering her mouth as she finished chewing.

"Do you guys remember that smoked ham that Tess used to make? God, that might've been the greatest thing to ever have been made ever." Nora reminisced. "Only seconded by these biscuits." She grinned, taking a bite out of the bread.

Theo set his fork down on his empty plate, "I don't know, Will always makes that killer apple crumble. It's the one thing I always look forward to for Friendsgiving." He smiled.

"Wouldn't know." Naiara spoke, receiving a questioning look from everyone at the table. "You always eat it all before anyone else got any." She glared at her brother.

"Will actually stared making one just for Theo." Dustin laughed, putting his utensils down.

Once all the food was finished, Naiara and Dustin took all the dishes to the kitchen sink. Naiara turned on the tap and angled it towards the left sink, while Dustin stood to her right, a dry cloth in hand.

"I'm glad you thought about what I said." Dustin smiled, watching as Naiara squeezed dish soad out of the bottle and into the rising water in the sink. "I think this is going well so far."

Naiara nodded, "Well, we haven't gotten to the awkward conversation yet." She said, scrubbing a plate. "Honestly, I'm surprised we made it through dinner without it."

Dustin nodded in understanding, "Don't worry too much, Ara. Will isn't here to throw a plethora of blame onto you and as long as you can explain your feelings to Nora, she'll understand."

Naiara sucked her tongue, passing a dish to Dustin. "I don't know. She was quick to throw blame at me the night of the motel fire."

"That's true, but I'll say this; Theo and I explained to her what we knew at the time, like why you left- why you had to leave," He began, drying off the last dish as Naiara leaned against the sink. "She didn't fully accept it, but she understood. Just explain your perspective to her, listen to her perspective, I'm sure you two will understand each other fully by the end of the night."

Naiara nodded. "Plus, Nai, it's been like what, five months since that fire? I'm sure everything will be okay." Dustin added as the two walked toward the living room.

Naiara knocked on the dining table as she walked past it, "Just in case." She smiled. Dustin rolled his eyes then pushed Naiara towards the couch.

The two sat down, Dustin beside Theo and Naiara on her own in the corner. "So," Nora began, "I think it might be time to address the elephant in the room, huh?" She finished, taking a look at everyone in the room.

Naiara nodded, "Where do we start?" She asked, leaning on her elbow.

"A timeline, maybe?" Theo suggested. "Like, when did you decide you wanted to become a firefighter and," He paused, "Y'know, leave."

"Okay." Naiara nodded again, sitting up properly. "It was the dorm fire, actually. Being told that I could succeed as a firefighter, dude, that felt fucking fantastic."  She began explaining, using her hands to exaggerate her story. "I had never been told that before, y'know? Never once did anyone look me in the eyes and tell me that I could be a successful doctor."

"But you could've been." Nora said, looking Naiara in the eyes, attempting to emphasize her point.

"Being a doctor was never my dream, it was my parents. I wanted to save lives, but I never wanted to be a doctor." She turned herself toward Nora, "You guys saw how much pressure our parents put on us to do become doctors. It's just," She paused briefly. "That was never my life."

"The night of the fire, as awful as it was, that night, I had an epiphany. I realized that I needed to stop living my life based on how my parents wanted me to live it. Bobby helped me find my purpose, what I was meant to do, but I couldn't do it here." She explained.

"Why couldn't you? You have so much support here." Nora asked, leaning forward to grab Naiara's hand.

"Nora, I had you guys. If I pursued firefighting here, with my parents here, I would've been forced to quit, to go back to med school. They never once supported me becoming anything but a doctor. They had a vision for my future that didn't fit with the vision that I had for my future. I just wouldn't have gotten the support I needed here. Starting new was really the only option that felt right." Naiara held Nora's hand, looking at her solemnly.

Nora nodded, taking her hand away and leaning back, "I only have one more question," She replied. Naiara tilted her head in questioning. "Were you happy? With your life in Seattle, with your friends there?" She finally asked, a weight being lifted off her shoulders.

A small smile formed on Naiara's face, "Yes. I was." She leaned back, looking at her brother and friends. "I made some amazing friends, and I'll never forget them, but you guys have been my best friends since we were kids. That's not something you can just casually leave behind." Nora smiled at Naiara's response, as did Dustin and Theo.

"Plus, if I stayed in Seattle, I might've missed Dustin and Theo's inevitable wedding." Naiara smirked, glancing over at the two, who only glared at her.

"I'm joking." She grinned. "Kinda."

𝗕𝗨𝗖𝗞 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗘𝗗 𝗔𝗧 the brunette in front of him, "How does any of that relate to you twisting your ankle?" He asked.

"Oh right, that's what I was explaining." She nodded in recollection. Buck gave her a look that suggested his annoyance. "Anyway," She began again, resuming her story. "After all that conversation, we continued talking about different shit, random shit, and eventually the night came to an end."

Buck glared at her, "Dude, how did you twist your ankle?"

"I'm getting there, jeez." She replied in annoyance. "I walked the three of them out, and as we were walking down the steps, I tripped and twisted my ankle, wasn't fun at all." She finished.

"You tripped? That was it?" He questioned.

"Mhm." She hummed, throwing her head back and closing her eyes.

Buck rolled his eyes and pushed himself out of the chair, walking away while muttering his annoyance, leaving Naiara giggling to herself on the couch.