She tries to keep her sigh of relief muted. (She does a mediocre job of this.)

"The first one is that we should email Prof Meadows the thing we texted her. She is - well known in the department for being difficult-to-impossible to reach by phone. She won't need ongoing management after doing that."

She takes a deep breath.

"The second is that the best way to tell everyone who'll worry about me at once that I'm going to be unavailable is by posting to my twitter and facebook and then cancelling all my calendar appointments. Which - is a bit tricky, with my phone destroyed, but it's still possible."

She opens one eye to look at Cara. Of course she has multiple social media accounts. Of course this is more complicated than it needs to be.

"You're not getting access to social media." The words come out immediate, reflexive. Too many ways that could go wrong. Too many people she could message, too many ways to signal for help.

She shifts against the headboard, thinking through options.

"The email is fine. We'll do that. But the social media..." She trails off, then sighs. "What would you normally post? Word for word. I'll type it myself."

She doesn't trust Cara with her own accounts. Doesn't trust her not to slip something in, some cry for help disguised as normal text.

She gulps. "...I will tell you, but. We can't log in to my social media accounts with my phone destroyed, I have 2FA enabled on them. We'd need to go get my laptop, or get someone else to use my laptop. I can explain how either would work."

Meanwhile, Aunt Rachel is texting them back!

Okay, Okay, deep breaths taken, sorry. Are you sure you don't need anything? What about your classes? And oh, is your backlash bad? Do you need anything to help with that? 

I love you so much, dear 💙

The phone buzzes. She glances at it, then back at Cara. Too many problems converging at once. Her head throbs.

"Your laptop. Of course." She pinches the bridge of her nose. "Where is it? Your apartment?"

The idea of going to Cara's apartment makes her skin crawl. Too many variables. Too many things that could go wrong. But the alternative is leaving all these loose ends, all these people who might come looking.

She picks up the phone, shows Cara the messages from her aunt.

"Deal with this first. Tell me what to type."

She likes cooperating with Vera. This is nice. Safe. Easy.

Absentmindedly, she shifts a bit closer against her, getting a bit more skin contact in.

"Yeah, it's at my apartment."

She reads the messages and says "I would reply:

Yes, I'm fine! My friend (whose phone I am borrowing, by the way, so no embarrassing stories, okay?) is taking good care of both of us. My classes will be fine, I've already let Prof Meadows know, and she'll email the other faculty for me. My backlash is embarrassing enough that I want to keep it private, at least for now, sorry. I love you so much - have a great time in BC, okay?

She types it out exactly as Cara dictates, though her fingers hesitate over 'embarrassing.' That's... actually clever. Gives a reason for privacy without raising suspicion.

She hits send, then sets the phone aside.

"Your apartment." The words taste sour. "We'll have to go get… do you have any medication? Tonight, probably. When there's less chance of running into your friends."

She's already calculating the risks. Cara will need clothes anyway. They could grab those too. Make it one trip, minimize exposure.

"You live alone, right? No roommates who might be there?" She said it before but she was deeper down, maybe less reliable.

She nods at the medication question. "I do have meds, yeah. HRT, and ADHD meds, and yes, I live alone - there won't be anyone there. We could leave a note on the door if anyone comes by, but it'll be less effective than the social media posts." Pause. (The guiding feels so nice...)

She knows there's something she's not thinking of, ugh.

Oh! Maybe it's - "Um. My apartment key is with my clothes in the pool locker room."

"Of fucking course it is." She closes her eyes, exhausted. Every simple thing turns into three more problems.

"Fine. We go to the pool first, get your things, then your apartment." She pauses, calculating. "Late. After midnight. Less chance of running into anyone."

Her fingers tighten slightly on Cara's neck. The logistics are making her head spin, but she forces herself to focus.

"Until then, you stay here. You don't answer the door. You don't make noise. If you need to move around, you do it quietly." She shifts against the headboard. "And you stay close enough that I can touch you. I need..." She trails off. Doesn't finish the sentence.

She opens her mouth and then - right, Vera told her not to make noise until then. Ugh. 

She nods. 

She... needs to make sure that email gets out sometime tonight, but she's not in a rush. She'll just... curl up against Vera, and close her eyes. 

She feels Cara settle against her, warm and quiet and finally, finally compliant. The weight of her is almost comforting.

The phone buzzes again. She ignores it. Whatever Aunt Rachel wants to say can wait.

She lets her eyes close, keeping one hand on Cara's neck, thumb tracing idle patterns. The guiding helps her head clear, bit by bit.

Just a few hours. Then they'll deal with the pool, the apartment, the laptop. All the loose ends that need tying up. But for now, she can pretend this is sustainable. That she hasn't completely fucked everything up. Everything's turning up Vera.

"Sleep if you can," she murmurs. "It's going to be a long night."

Is it the command that puts her out, or the guiding and exhaustion of the day? Either way, she's out like a light. 

... She's snuggly, while asleep. 

She doesn't sleep. Can't, really, with Cara's weight against her and the list of things that could go wrong spinning through her head. But she dozes, drifting in and out while the afternoon light fades to evening through the open window.

Cara shifts in her sleep, pressing closer, and Vera finds herself adjusting automatically to accommodate her. It's... not terrible. The constant contact keeps her thoughts from fracturing too badly.

She checks the phone periodically.

From Aunt Rachel:

Okay, okay, I'll try not to worry too much or pry. I love you so much, Carbar 💙 Please be safe, and keep me posted, especially if you need anything?

(and then, 30 minutes later)

(To the owner of this phone: Thank you for taking care of my little Cara.)

From the group text with Ryan and Sara:

Ryan: lol Cara u can just say u cn't make my birthday u don't need 2 come up with the world's least plausible excuse for why??

(15 minute gap)

Sara: Well, Prof Meadows made me cover for her this afternoon, said something about a medical emergency. And about not being able to contact her.

Ryan: wait rly? fuck now i feel lk an a-hole

Ryan: Cara r u ok?

(hour gap)

Sara: ...Cara??

She reads through the messages, jaw tightening with each one. Ryan and Sara are going to be a problem. They're already comparing notes, already suspicious.

She types a response to the group text first, trying to channel Cara's voice:

Sorry! Was sleeping. And Ryan it's not an excuse, I really am awakening :( Sara thanks for covering, you're the best. I'm okay, just exhausted and dealing with backlash. Will make it up to you both when I'm through this!

She hesitates over Aunt Rachel's messages. The thank you makes something twist in her stomach. She doesn't respond to that one.

To the first one, she types:

Will do! Going to rest now. Love you too

She sets the phone aside, checking the time. 8:47 PM. A few more hours before they can risk the pool.

Sara: Np but she better find someone else for Monday, I'm going to be swamped. 

Sara: What's your backlash like, anyways? 

Ryan: Sara u cant just ask ppl what theyre backlash is 

(Aunt Rachel responds with a bunch of blue heart and butterfly emojis)

She stares at Sara's question. Of course she'd ask. Of course she'd want details.

She types back:

It's honestly kind of embarrassing to talk about. I'll tell you guys all about it after, promise!

That should buy them time. People don't push when you say something's embarrassing.

She glances down at Cara, still sleeping against her. The girl hasn't moved in over an hour, just breathing steady and warm against Vera's side. It would be peaceful if she didn't know what was coming - the pool, the apartment, trying to navigate all of this without getting caught.

She sets an alarm for 11:30. Late enough that campus should be mostly empty, early enough that they won't look too suspicious if someone does see them.

For now, she just has to wait.

Cara seems to be having some kind of nightmare, actually? She's clinging to Vera a lot more than she was 10 minutes ago, and she looks scared. 

"sorry", she whispers.