𝖋𝖑𝖔𝖜𝖊𝖗 𝖕𝖔𝖜𝖊𝖗 ⋆ 𝕶𝖊𝖛𝖎𝖓 𝖉𝖆𝖞

𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖗𝖙𝖞 𝖘𝖎𝖝

╔═══°∴,*⋅✲══〖✰〗══✲⋅*,∴°═══╗

          Something feels wrong in Daisy's bones when she wakes up on St Valentines Day. There's a chill to her skin, a cold slick across her forehead. Hair matted and damp at her nape. A dull ache in her muscles that is probably connected to her visit to the gym late last night.

          "Morning," Allison coos from her bed. Daisy peers over the railing of her bunk, bleary-eyed, to see the blonde girl perched on the edge of her mattress lacing up a pair of sneakers. "You got in late, so we didn't wanna disturb you. But we have to leave for the gym in, like, twelve minutes."

 
          Daisy groans, falls backward with her arm over her eyes. "Tell Coach I'm sick."

          "Are you sick?" asks Allison, standing and resting her chin on the edge of Daisy's bunk. "Because even when you had the flu, you still tried to come to training. What's up?"

          Her late night call with Jack, who promised earnestly that he'd be be seeing her very, very soon.

 
"Tired," mumbles Daisy. "S'fine. I'll meet you out there in five."

 
          Allison gives her a final intrigued look before leaving, the bedroom door snapping shut behind her. Daisy counts to thirty, and when nobody comes back into the room, she digs under her mattress to find a prescription bottle. Shaking it onto her palm yields two perfect pills, and that's it.

          "Fuck," she mutters to herself. She knocks them back dry, and tucks the bottle back between the wall and her bunk. It's Tuesday, so she's got one class today. She's meant to be getting brunch with Kevin (who totally, absolutely forgot it was Valentines Day when making reservations at a nice spot downtown), which gives her maybe an hour to get to Cam's dorm and back again for her 11:30 lecture--

 
          "Oh, fuck," she says out loud. It's been happening more often these days, finding her mind scheming and planning and sneaking around. Being addicted to drugs is one thing, but being addicted to drugs and lying through your teeth to the people you love is another thing altogether.

 
          Her eyelids dip shut, and she shakes herself to stay awake. A calm, cool wave washes over her body, extinguishing the heat of her skin, and relaxes the tension in her bones. Mind almost completely silent, she slides down from her bunk and steps into the clothes she wore to the gym last night. Hair unbrushed, she scrapes it into a knot at the top of her head.

 
          The girls and Matt are waiting for her outside. Dan is curled into Matt's side, and Allison and Renee are holding hands.

 
          "Ew," Daisy comments with a smile. "Young love, how gross."

          "Do you want me to go find Kevin for you?" Matt taunts, tightening his grip on Dan's waist. Daisy frowns at him. "Cohen, you have got to stop pretending you're not dating him. We've all seen you getting cosy on the couch, or spooning in bed watching nerd shit on his laptop. It's embarrassing."

 
          "We're not... dating," Daisy attempts, but nobody really believes it. "I don't know. Ask him."

 
          Four pairs of eyes stare her down, and she starts to sweat again.

 
          Renee knows. Who else has she told? Is this an intervention?

 
          "Coach will bust our asses if we're late to the gym," Daisy says finally, and it breaks the others from their trance. But as they're leaving, as Matt's hand is turning the door handle, as Daisy is lacing her feet into incredibly worn-down pink sneakers, the dormitory door flies open from the other side.