• Avoiding him?   All she'd been doing the past two hours was stay right next to him as if they were glued together, as if it was all she wanted to do all evening.  She kept up the act to not cause any drama or direct any attention towards them.  She didn't want to somehow steal the spotlight from the bride and groom-to-be.  "Could you just..."  Veronica backed away from him and pinched the bridge of her nose, just so she wouldn't have to look at the judgement in his overly attentive blue eyes.  Was it too much to try to have some alone time this evening? "If you don't wanna talk to me after this, just say so." Did he even listen to himself?  He was such a walking contradiction she could hardly stand to look at his face.  She held back a grunt and kept her head away from his.  When Théo stepped closer to her, she felt

•An informant? Did he mean a paid spy? For that scary, seemingly dangerous guy named Leandro? "What do you mean?" Veronica leaned closer to Théo and looked him in the eye. She sat still on the bed, eager for more explanations. Her mind was back in overdrive, and now that he decided to open up to her, she felt like a heavy cloud of ignorance was lifted off of her. At last.Finally he was coming clean. He was giving her the answers she'd been waiting for. He was starting to trust her again. "Been working for the DEA for a while now. But just a side job." Théo looked away and clenched his fist on his thigh. She gawked at him. Good grief. Did he seriously mean he was a DEA informant? What the fuck? So he'd been spying on drug dealers and drug lords these past couple of years? Why didn't he mention a thing?"It's not something I could talk to you about." Théo paused after glancing at her reaction. "And I didn't want you to know. To keep you safe." He scoffed and faintly shook his head, a

•"Oh! Oh. I get it now."Veronica turned off the stove and stacked the pancakes on the serving plate, minding the excitement in her brother's husky voice.He'd been drinking a lot last night, like her dad.  Behind her, Mick chuckled and sat on the chair across from Théo. Mick's early morning puffy face matched his bedhead. His spiky short blond hair wasn't all over the place, though.Unlike her, her brother had always had straight and naturally blond hair.  Sometimes it looked light brown, but now it looked dark blond, like Théo's.  Veronica served the freshly cooked pancakes on the dining table and made a face at her brother's smirk. "What now?""You guys are the French-American version of Scott and Kourt," Mick replied loudly, his grin more teasing, ignoring her confused look.

•"Just call her," Tomek muttered to him, talking about Veronica, still.  

• Bakersville, NY •The week before It was the last few days of the band's second tour break.   Initially, she wanted to get back to touring sooner, but the strange mental fog she had been dealing with lately had her thinking she ought to take another long weekend break to recuperate. Get her energy back. Veronica stuffed her hands into her parka's pockets, keeping at her hasty gait after a chilly breeze wafted past the sidewalk. Then her tired eyes drifted over the stretch of planetrees and shrubbery ahead. She didn't feel like driving today, mostly since the nearest convenience store was only a fifteen-minute walk away. A little exercise would be good for her, given her  house-get groceries-house routine lately.  So she didn't bother commuting. She slackened her steps to glance skyward. More grayish clouds had crowded above