Despite only being gone for a few days, my and Dani's reception at the farmhouse is heartfelt and warm, even when Felix took me down to the snow in a bear hug after hearing about my dip in the frozen pond. Octavia sheepishly helps me up and attempts to back away, but I pull her into a hug, which she returns tenfold and sniffles, apologizing over and over about our fight.

"It's okay, Tavia," I soothe with a small smile. "We've all been tense since getting here. I'm sorry for treating you like a kid again."

She sniffles and lightly jabs my arm when we part, shrugging. "Just don't go off and die, alright?"  

Chuckling, I shrug. "I'll do my best not to."

Sparrow pokes his head out of the back door of the farmhouse with a cheerful grin, waving a bottle of wine around. "Hey, guess what I just did?!"

Octavia gasps, grinning in return. "Wait, seriously?!"

"Yup! We have something to celebrate Cass and Dani's survival with! Come on, slow-pokes, Josh is working on getting some of the bottles open!"

Felix laughs and follows an eager Octavia inside while Dani gives me a wary look.

Dani asks, "Is drinking going to be a good idea?"

"Probably not," I sigh as we head for the back door to join the others. "But do you want to try and stop them?"

The chuckle from her I expected never comes, and instead, she looks more concerned, glancing towards the barn in the front yard. I follow her gaze, gently touching her upper back and guiding her to the house.

"I'm sure it'll be fine," I assure her. "We'll just have to make sure no one gets too drunk today and keep an eye out for suspicious activity."

"And that Circe woman?"

I pause, glancing between Dani and the others. "What do we tell them? That some mysterious stranger in the woods dove into the pond, saved my ass and left a cryptic warning without elaborating on it?"

"They at least need to know that we're not as alone out here as we thought we were," Dani comments.

"Yeah, probably," I sigh. "At least it'll help dissuade them from drinking too much."

As we step into the kitchen, Dani closes the door behind us as we enter, and I catch sight of Octavia taking a massive swig from a bottle of expensive-looking whiskey. Dani gives me a flat look with a raised eyebrow as I pinch the bridge of my nose.

"There they are!" Josh exclaims, bouncing over to Dani and me with a bottle of opened wine in each hand, grinning like a cat as he puts his arms around my and Dani's shoulders, steering us into the kitchen. "We were worried when Dani told us you went for a dip! How are you feeling?"

"Better now," I tell him, ducking out of his arms as some of the wine dribbles down the front of my shirt. "Have you already started drinking?"

Josh pauses, glancing at the collection of bottles and corks now occupying the kitchen island. "How mad would you be if I said yes?"

Dani carefully takes one of the bottles from her brother's hand and puts it on the counter. "You better not get too deep into these bottles, dumbass. We aren't alone in these woods like we thought we were."

The group freezes, their jovial expressions instantly snapping back to seriousness.

Sparrow sighs, setting the bottle opener on the counter. "Did the Widows find us again?"

"No," Dani says, glancing at me. I nod, and she takes a deep breath before launching into explaining what happened. We tell them about who really saved me from drowning and freezing to death, about how Circe had helped Dani in getting me to the cabin and getting warm, and about the cryptic warning she gave us before disappearing into the snow again. The group is quiet as we stand around the island, taking in the situation.

"We don't know if she knows anything about the vault we found," I tell them, breaking the silence. "But we're pretty sure she isn't with the Widows, either."

"Then, what?" Felix asks. "Is she just out here by herself, helping survivors like some zombie apocalypse superhero?"

"I don't know," I confess. "She was pretty insistent that we not stay here for long, and she didn't want to stick around very long to chat, either."

Octavia snorts, rolling her eyes. "There's always something, isn't there?"

"Yeah," I sigh, rubbing the back of my neck. "We've been pretty lucky that we haven't been bothered out here all this time, but the frost won't last forever, and the Widows are still out there."

Josh grabs a glass and fills it with some wine. "I don't know about you guys, but it sounds to me like this is the perfect time to indulge before shit hits the fan, huh?"

Dani groans. "You just heard that we're being watched, and you still want to drink?"

"Uh, yeah?" Josh returns, taking a sip from his glass as his sister fumes. "Look, the way I see it, if this Circe woman wanted to hurt us, she would have done so when she was following me and Felix here." Josh claps his hand on my brother's shoulder and shakes him a little. "If she wanted to hurt us before that when we were weak, she would have done something when Dani got bit and was recovering."

Sparrow glances at the wine bottles on the counter, looking thoughtful. "Maybe she's waiting for us all to get drunk off our asses and pick us off that way?"

Octavia rolls her eyes. "How would she know about the alcohol, or that we're planning on drinking today?"

Sparrow shrugs. "I don't know, but if she's watching us, she could just be waiting for a moment when we're all weak and defenseless to do something."

Felix shakes his head. "If she wanted to do that, Josh is right; she would have done something by now, especially when we were all asleep. That would go doubly for when Cass fell in the pond, she could have hurt or killed Dani and left Cass for dead, and none of us would have known."

We stand once more in silence, letting the situation sink in. Eventually, it's Octavia who breaks the silence again.

"Listen," she says, snatching the bottle from Josh's hand and pouring herself a glass. "I say we drink a little bit, enjoy ourselves a little game, and relax. For all we know, that lady could have been just as paranoid as Cassy, and we could have nothing to worry about. Let's just celebrate the fact that my idiot sister isn't dead, yeah?"

Josh's smile returns and he glances at Dani, raising a glass. "That sounds reason enough to me for celebration! Come on, what do you guys say? It's not every day we get to unwind and relax!"

Sparrow gives Josh a careful look, sighs, and smiles, taking the glass from his outstretched hand and taking a sip. "Alright, pretty boy, we'll celebrate!"

"Aww, you think I'm pretty?"

"I will dump this wine all over your head."

"After working so hard to unlock the cabinet? What a waste!"

Octavia laughs as well, taking a sip of wine herself. "You guys know what this calls for, right?"

I groan, the sly look on her face signaling the death of my sanity. "Oh, God, please no..."

"Drinking games!"

Josh's face lights up at the idea as Felix and I groan, and Sparrow and Dani glance at us, looking amused and worried.

"What do you have in mind?" Josh asks.

"Never Have I Ever!" Octavia exclaims. "But we're playing it with a twist!"

I shake my head. "Absolutely not, you're 'with a twist' always ends up with someone getting hurt."

"Yeah," Dani drawls, going to sit on the loveseat in the living room. "I'm going to spectate this one."

Octavia wines, grabbing an armful of bottles and following Dani into the living room. "But you haven't even heard the twist yet!"

"Your sister's face and comment tells me everything I need to know about it, and besides, I don't drink."

"Aww, you're no fun!" Octavia wines, sitting on the couch next to the loveseat while the rest of us grab the remaining bottles, and a few glasses, and take our seats in the living room.

As I take my seat across from Dani, I clear my throat, noticing Sparrow's hesitation in partaking in drinking with the new information regarding Circe. "Whoever doesn't want to drink can just do a point system if they still want to play," I suggest, hoping the compromise is enough to please everyone.

Sparrow and Dani both look grateful for the out and I dig out pieces of paper and pens from the coffee table drawers and hand the supplies to them as everyone else grabs a glass and fills it with whiskey or wine.

"Who wants to go first?" Josh asks.

Immediately, Octavia's hand shoots up, nearly making Dani jump at the sudden movement beside her. "Me, me! I got one!" She eyes the group, her fingers tapping on the side of her wine glass as she considers her first 'never have I ever'. "Never have I ever... been out of the States!"

Josh takes a drink while Dani and Sparrow scribble down a point on their paper, and Octavia's eyes widen with interest.

"Where did you guys go?" She asks.

Sparrow is the first to pipe in, a distant smile on his face. "I used to visit my extended family in the Philippines every summer with my parents before University."

Felix whistles, impressed. "That's pretty cool, dude! You went every summer?"

"Yeah, we stopped going because uni was expensive and we just didn't have the money for it anymore."

Octavia turns to Dani and Josh, curious. "What about you two?"

Dani picks at the arm of her seat while Josh answers, "We're actually from the UK, we came here a few years before the infection hit."

Her eyes widen, and I raise my eyebrows. "Wait, really?" Octavia asks. "What brought you guys here?"

"Family," Josh says absently with a shrug. When Octavia gestures for him to continue and he doesn't, she huffs.

"Well, that was a boring one. Alright, Sparrow, you're next!"

Sparrow pauses, glancing around at the group, and a sly smile crosses his face. "Okay, never have I ever been with a woman, romantically or sexually."

Felix sputters as Josh rolls his eyes. "Oh, come on, that's a cheap shot!"

Sparrow shrugs as Felix, Octavia, Josh, and I take drinks while Dani scribbles another point on her paper. "Never said I was gonna play fair," Sparrow grins. "You're turn there, pretty boy!"

"Alright then, how's this; never have I ever given a dude a blow-job!"

Sparrow's grin fades to a false scowl as he and Octavia take a drink. "First of all, fuck you," Sparrow grumbles, hiding a smile behind a sip of alcohol. "Second of all, nice play."

Felix, meanwhile, stares at our sister in surprise. "When did you..?"

Octavia grins sheepishly. "Taco Casa parking lot, senior year. Remember Cameron Harris?"

Felix's eyes widen. "So you're the reason he was late to the Homecoming game!"

"Listen, he had a nice ass, and I'm a sucker for blondes, we all know this." She glances at Dani, who pays her no mind as she stares at the coffee table.

"Yeah, that's fair," Felix says sheepishly. "My turn, right? Never have I ever broken a bone."

Everyone but Octavia drinks while Dani and Sparrow scribble points on their sheets, and Felix's eyes widen. "Damn, I didn't think it was that common. I know about my sister, but what did you guys break?"

Josh rolls up his sleeve, showing a gnarly scar across the side of his arm and up his elbow. "Broke my elbow in boot camp before we came to the States. You know, military brat life."

I glance over at Dani, who doesn't elaborate but rather points at her jaw. "Broke my jaw when I got in a fight with a guy twice my size. Broke his ribs in return, but he was too drunk to notice until he passed out."

Octavia looks starry-eyed at her story, and I can't help but sympathize with her, wondering what kind of life she must have led before we met. I glance at Sparrow, hoping to help take the attention off Dani. "What about you? What did you break?"

Sparrow wiggles his hand in the air with a smile. "I don't have a fancy scar to show off, but I broke my wrist at Uni when a bunch of guys tried to haze my best friend. I got my ass handed to me, but they never messed with her after that! What about you?"

I grin sheepishly, patting my leg. "I broke my shin running cross country. The course wasn't checked over very well, and I ended up slipping down a drop-off and landed on my leg wrong when I hit the bottom. I needed a cast for months because of how bad it was."

"God damn," Sparrow hisses. "I definitely don't envy you, that's for sure! I think it's your turn, too!"

"Oh, uh," I pause, trying to think of a 'never have I ever' that wouldn't be too terrible, but would also help me get to know everyone else better. "Never have I ever... been in a gang."

Josh takes a slow slip from his cup while Dani stiffly scribbles a point on her paper.

"Whoa," Octavia breathes. "I didn't take you guys for the whole 'bad-boy' shtick! Were you guys like some Robin Hood act or something?"

Dani refuses to meet my eye as she picks at the arm of her chair even more now, leaving behind a small pile of fuzz on the ground next to her, and Josh chuckles tensely.

"Nah, it wasn't anything like that," Josh says. "We weren't even really officially members, either. We left before things got too serious."