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“I want ice cream,” Mattie says before everyone has even buckled their seatbelts. “Let’s go to Cold Stone.”
“What happened to hi, hello, how are you, how was practice? ” Farrah asks.
Mattie rolls her eyes. “I don’t care how many people are buckled,” she says, backing out of her space and ignoring the cursing from the backseat as Cairo, midway through reaching for her seatbelt, is abruptly thrown back and her elbow lands squarely in Kate’s ribs. “And I know practice was good because you guys don’t look like you want to kill each other.”
Kate glowers at Mattie, rubbing her side gingerly, as Cairo buckles her seatbelt.
“Ice cream sounds good,” Eva chimes in. “We had a really great practice, we should celebrate.”
Cairo shrugs. “I’m in.”
“I like that idea,” Farrah decides, looking back. “Kate?”
Kate nods, and Mattie whoops. Cairo and Eva both laugh, and Kate stares resolutely at her knees, reminding herself to ignore the way hearing Eva laugh still kind of messes with her heart.
She’s tried Eva. It didn’t go so well.
Clearly, Mattie planned this in advance, because by the time they get to Cold Stone, Annleigh is already waiting by the door. Farrah shoots Mattie an accusatory glance, but Mattie just gives them an innocent smile, climbing out of the car.
The six of them walk in together, and Kate orders first while behind her, Annleigh starts asking significantly more questions about rehearsal than Mattie did. As the cashier tells her her total, Kate goes to grab her wallet, but a hand on her arm stops her.
“I got it,” Eva says with a smile, offering her card before Kate can speak. She should probably argue, insisting on paying for herself, but the cashier takes Eva’s card before she can remember that.
“Thanks,” she mumbles, stepping away.
Eva pays for everyone else, too, and Kate forces herself to remember that as they all sit down. She wasn’t special, she was just first, and Eva is just nice—and in the middle of a sold-out stadium tour, so of course she has cash to spare for Cold Stone.
“So, what’s on the setlist?” Annleigh asks, taking a seat across from them.
“Nice try,” Farrah responds, stealing a bite from her ice cream. “That’s classified.”
Annleigh pouts. “What’s the point of being the sister of a Grammy winner if you don’t get insider knowledge?”
The four of them exchange conspiratory smiles, and Kate feels something weird stab at her heart. She’s missed this—the four of them being a unit and sharing secrets, even if they’re secrets as simple as a set list.
Under the table, Eva slides her foot to line up next to Kate’s, like she did when they’d sit at those long tables after concerts to meet fans and sign posters.
Or secrets as big as us.
Kate risks a glance and finds Eva smiling at her.
“Please tell me that’s not coconut in your ice cream,” Eva says, pointing to Kate’s cup.
Kate holds it protectively to her chest. “And what if it is?”
“What are you, eighty years old?” Eva teases.
Kate sticks her tongue out at Eva, who nods sagely.
“Ah, I see,” she says. “You’re actually six years old.”
Kate rolls her eyes, but she’s smiling. “You’re one to talk, you know. Who even likes coffee ice cream?”
“You don’t know what you’re missing,” Eva says, picking up a bite and holding it out. “Try it!”
“Fuck, no.”
“C’mon,” Eva prods. “It’s good!”
Kate hesitates, but opens her mouth, and honestly, she has no idea if it actually tastes good or not, because all she knows is Eva next to her, Eva’s smile, the spoon that was just in her mouth-
“Gross,” Farrah says across the table with a gagging sound effect.
“You’re a child,” Eva says easily, which is good because Kate cannot stop overthinking right now. Her mind will not stop unhelpfully supplying other times they shared spoons or straws or whatever, and how they always laughed it off because “it’s not like we haven’t-”
Stop.
“Hey,” Mattie says, not-so-subtly gesturing across the store. “That girl over there has not stopped staring since we got here. I think she’s about to pass out.”
Kate follows her gaze, and sure enough, there’s a girl sitting across the room, who immediately looks away and tries to act casual—but Kate definitely recognizes the album cover on her tank top.
The older woman sitting next to her, who might be her mom or her aunt, says something to her, and the girl blushes, shyly looking back their way. Cairo waves, and the girl turns a deeper shade of red, but then she gets up and hesitantly comes their way.
“Hi,” she says, fiddling with the hem of her shirt. “I don’t mean to be rude, but, um, I saw you come in, and… hi.”
Eva smiles warmly at her. “I love your shirt.”
The girl giggles a little bit. “Um, thanks.”
“Are you coming to the concert on Thursday?” Farrah asks, leaning their elbow on the table.
The girl nods. “I’m from St. Paul, but I’m staying with my aunt. I couldn’t believe it when they- um, when you announced the concert. I’m kind of a newer fan, so I never got the chance to go to one of your concerts . ”
“We can’t wait to see you there,” Eva promises.
She brightens a little. “Did you guys just finish a rehearsal?”
“Mm-hmm.” Kate’s turn. They haven’t done this in years, but all four of them are falling back into that familiar routine, trading questions and making sure they all get the chance to talk to her. “It’s been kind of a rush to put together a show last minute, but I think it’s going to be great.”
“If it goes nearly as well as rehearsal is going, it’ll be stellar,” Cairo adds, which is… generous, to say the least.
The girl’s aunt comes up behind her, giving her a meaningful look, and she blushes again as she looks back at them. “Um, could we maybe… would you mind maybe taking a picture?”
“Yeah, of course!” Cairo answers, sliding out of her booth. Mattie follows her to let Farrah out, and the aunt steps back, phone at the ready as they all pose, Cairo and Farrah on one side and Eva and Kate on the other. It’s been a while, but Kate thankfully seems to remember enough from her media training that her expression doesn’t show how she’s really feeling about Eva’s arm around her waist.
“Thank you so much,” the girl says as her aunt lowers her phone.
“Of course,” Eva tells her, giving her a side-hug with the arm still around her shoulders (and Kate is not jealous at all). “I hope you have fun on Thursday.”
“Thank you!” the girl squeaks, and then she and her aunt are gone and Mattie is free to roll her eyes.
“Don’t be rude,” Annleigh scolds her. “She was really happy.”
“I’m not doing it at her,” Mattie argues. “But I don’t see why anyone would be excited to meet Farrah. ”
Farrah kicks her, and she yelps. “You know, there are plenty of people out there who would kill to get to ferry us to and from rehearsal,” they remind her.
“Really? Because they’re welcome to do it,” Mattie says, sliding back into her seat. Farrah follows, arguing back, and the two of them shoot petty remarks at each other while Annleigh watches, looking tired. Eva nudges Kate, and the two of them share a grin, and for a moment, Kate doesn’t think about all the reasons she shouldn’t get attached again and lets herself just be here, with her band—and with Eva.