vanillajello | Overland Park, KS, Monday Morning FT

This week had been far too intense. Kate could tell by how long it took her to put the pieces of all of it together after waking up. Bryce had attacked her brother. Her aunt and uncle and cousin were moving away. Her mom was going away for three months.

It was a lot of new information.

But at least she and Bod were back in their own bed, and had already been the previous night. No Bryce meant no more barricades. Even Marshall had been sleeping in his room again, even if it still had Bryce's handiwork all over it. You couldn't really say things were back to normal.

With a sigh, Kate picked up her head off Bod's chest, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. Lots to do today, but she didn't feel particularly awake.

	Bod was still dozing, still stretched out underneath Kate and still hoping that he could stay asleep just a bit longer. It'd been a long week, trying even for him and a nice night of sleep had been rare. It was nice to be back in their bed with Kate against him. So, he continued to doze, slowly approaching the cusp of waking up and becoming more alert.
	Kate gave him a glance and smiled a little, even if it was only to herself. She suspected all this would have been much harder if he hadn't stuck around to deal with all of it with her. A moment, and she ducked down to give his cheek a kiss. She could've let him doze for as long as he liked, but... Shit to do.
	"Mmm?" He didn't sound that awake but he was more awake than a moment ago. "Kate? Are you awake? Are you all right?"
	"I'm fine," she murmured quietly, still hovering over him. She liked mornings with him, even on days like this. During weeks like this. "Sorry to wake you up."
	"It's all right," he yawned, opening his eyes and blinking a few times so he could see her clearly. "Couldn't sleep anymore?"
	"Lots to do," Kate replied. "Important dinner and stuff. So... Yeah, no. Couldn't really sleep anymore." She was just too wired to sleep in, even if she'd slept okay until now.
	"Right." Bod rubbed his eyes and started to push himself up. "I hadn't meant to be lazy. There is a lot to do today. I guess getting started early is the best thing."
	Kate chuckled despite herself. "I wasn't trying to insinuate you were being lazy or anything," she told him, running a hand through her messy hair. "Just that I'm too wired to sleep."
	"I didn't think you were implying that," he said, leaning forward and giving her a brief kiss. "But, I should get up anyway. I'm not going to go vaulting out of bed or anything like that. I'm just waking up."
	"Take all the time you need," Kate replied, yawning, and glancing around. It was so good to be back in this room. Still, she wrinkled her nose. "I need to convince Moosh into helping me with cooking stuff," she said. Then she added, a little more idly, "You know, I heard it from Dad last night that he might be moving to Houston, too."
	"...with your aunt and...pseudo uncle?" Bod asked, raising an eyebrow. "Is that where the treatment facility is for your mum?"
	"No, that's Boston," Kate replied, untangling a few strands of her hair. "Houston's where Neil's working right now. He has a brother there or something."
	"That seems like...quite the distance for the two of them," Bod remarked idly, reaching over to help Kate untangle and straighten her hair out.
	Kate paused for a it, processing what he'd said. "Huh?" she asked, before she got it. "Oh. No, I think you misunderstood me. I meant, like, I heard from Dad that Moosh is moving to Houston. Maybe."
	"Oh. Oh! That makes more sense," Bod said, nodding. "I apologize for that one. What do you think of Marshall maybe moving to Houston?"
	Kate shrugged and resisted the urge to just lean into him. "Dunno," she admitted. "I mean, someone needs to look after him while Mom and Dad are away. Might as well be Char and Neil, right?"
	"And what about you?" Bod asked quietly. "What sorts of plans do you have after all of this? Staying local?"
	"Dunno," Kate replied again, with another shrug. "If everyone else is going away..." What was there really keeping her rooted here in a town she'd wanted to leave permanently since forever?
	"Mmm." Bod could understand that sort of thinking even if he wondered if she really wanted to leave. "You know I'll go wherever you do, right?"
	"Yeah." It was actually one of the very few things she felt she could really count on at the moment. "Yeah. And I'm like, you know, ridiculously grateful."
	"And there's also no need to decide your future right now," he said, nodding. "There's time. We should just concentrate on today. On getting through today and taking it one step at a time."
	Kate nodded. "Yes." With a sigh, she actually got up, then held out her hands for him. "Up and at them, Muffin."
	Bod took her hands and pushed himself to his feet. "Would you like me to get you some breakfast?"
	"No, I'm fine to get breakfast with you," she told him with a faint smile, giving his hands a little squeeze. Just because. "You can just hang close until I send you off to do errands."
	"Errands, hmm?" Bod asked, tugging her closer to him. "I'm the errand boy now?"
	"'Fraid so," Kate sighed, even though she was smiling at him. "Pretty sure you'll be sent out to the store. Probably several times."
	"I hope you know better than to send me out alone," Bod quipped with a smile. "I might come back with all the wrong things."
	Kate chuckled quietly. "No, you'll be sent out with a phone and a detailed list, and you'll be fine," she replied. "You're not gonna screw anything up because you know it's a major dinner and you love me."
	"Of course I love you," Bod said, smiling at her. "I just know I'm sometimes inept when it comes to simple things so I'll be thankful for a detailed list."
	"Then a detailed list you shall have," Kate nodded, leaning in for a butterfly light kiss before giving his hands one final squeeze and stepping away. "Guess we should get going. Or you know, dressed and shit." It was going to be a very long day.
	"I guess we should," he agreed, nodding and looking around. "We'll be all right, Kate. We'll be all right."
	Kate just gave him a wry little smile for that. Yeah, she hoped they would be. Didn't mean she thought it was a given. Long, long day.

-----

It was a long day. Yes. It wasn't long before Kate was having to cajole Marshall into helping her with things in the garden, getting ingredients for the dinner. Luckily he was convinced she really did need the help, as she couldn't tell a bulb of garlic from a shallot.

Which she then proved beyond any doubt when she didn't even recognize a petrified cat shit before she was already holding it. And then very quickly was not holding it, after Marshall pointed this fact out to her.

"Speaking of disgusting shitheaps," she said, still making a face, "what's this I'm hearing about you moving to Houston, pardner?"

Marshall's reply was unenthusiastic. He didn't even look up. "Yeah."

"Well," Kate continued, frowning at him, "are you okay with that?"

"I don't really care," he said. Kate wished she could have been surprised, but his attitude had been like that for a while now. "What difference does anything make at this point?"

"This is it, Moosh, it's all we got," Kate pointed out, straightening up. "It's nothing to be sad or happy about. It just –– it is what it is."

For whatever it was worth, this was their life. She'd done a great deal to run from it, but it wasn't something you got away from. Not really. She recognized the urge to try and shut it out with an emotional lockdown mode, but she also knew that did nothing in the long run.

Huh. Guess she really had grown up.

Marshall wasn't having it, though. He shook his head. "You know, I want to shoot myself in the head when I think about Mom trying to wipe away years and years of pain and disappointment with a hug, or a kiss, or a fucking family dinner."

Kate sighed. "Well, she doesn't know what else to do."

His brother looked at her, and it sucked so bad to know that he was being completely honest right now. "Here's the truth, Kate: I don't have any room to give a shit," he said. "I'm finding it hard to care about her."

He went back to cuttind some herbs. Kate watched him for a moment, chewing on her lip. She wnted to help. She didn't know how. "You know," she started again, gently, "I was driving down Lowell Avenue the other day, and –– and, uh, people are bringing flowers, mementos. It's, it's kind of... like a memorial. It's really beautiful. Do you think that maybe you would want to go or ––"

Marshall didn't even look at her. "No."

He turned his back on her and walked away.

[ooc: NFB, NFI; OOC-okay! Preplayed with the transplendent

nimeni, lifted with tweakage from USoT S03E12.]