A plan. SJ has a plan and that's great. It is finally something. Something to hopefully get all of them out of the mess they're a part of. It's just a little bit of relief. Just a little. Because part of Tom is wondering why she's been up here thinking of a plan after they've just had this fight and she thought he actually left. And with her mom being back. She's up here thinking of a plan when she could have been doing literally anything else, possibly a healthy coping mechanism. But, then again, it wouldn't quite be SJ if she had healthy coping mechanisms.

"So, I was rereadding my book on mollusks for like the hundredth time." SJ starts and Tom just raises a brow.

"You've read a book on mollusks a hundred times?"

How are mollusks going to help? Who reads a book on mollusks after that kind of fight? What is going on?

"Why do you people always interrupt me? As if you haven't read a damn book about fucking Jupiter or something a hundred time." SJ snips, not trying to sound annoyed but wanting to get to the point.

Whenever SJ mentions something that isn't completely related to the topic, everyone wants to question that. Why is everyone so interested in everything else instead of the whole situation they're all in? Can't everyone just stop asking so many questions for a few minutes and let her just explain things?

"'s fair." Tom nods, gesturing a hand out for SJ to continue.

"Anyway, one is nicknamed a dancer which made me think about a gala--"

"Isn't that...what you did last time?" Tom cuts her off, remembering her talking about breaking into Arthur's office during an event.

Tom's voice is not confident and SJ is not oblivious to his skepticism. Yes, it is exactly what she did last time that got he caught her but this time it's different. Tom and Harrison have no else that Arthur can touch. Last time, there was more Arthur could do. This time, what's he really going to do? He can't take Harrison away, he can't take Tom away, he won't touch SJ. He could go after her friends but she's planning to account for that if they get caught. But she doesn't think they'll get caught this time.

"Yes. But, last time, I was with Ian's brother. Ian's brother had, well, Ian. Someone Arthur could destroy. So, he threw me under the bus to save his ass and Ian's. Fair enough if you ask me."

SJ has never been mad about it. Well, in the moment, she was mad because she had a plan and Ian's brother went against that. It kind of blew up and it got her burned. It sucked but in the end, if it were Travis, SJ would have done the same thing. So, she holds no anger in her words, just understanding.

"What's gonna be different this time, then?" Tom asks, worry radiating off of him.

"I have you." SJ responds, words short and simple, easy.

Tom pauses for a second and she's so confident he wouldn't turn on her. And maybe he wouldn't. He hates thinking about the possibility of turning on her. That would not be ideal and it would crush him. But, there's a part of him that knows it doesn't matter. Harrison has been his best friend nearly his entire life. If it were him, if he had to throw SJ under the bus, he would. It's horrible to admit and it's a bit crushing but at the end of the day if he had to pick who to pull out of a burning fire it would always be his best friend.

"He won't touch Harrison." SJ starts, almost seeing the thoughts running through Tom's mind. "If he does, he risks fucking up your whole fight. So, you don't have to worry about him. And the gala, if word is right, is gonna be at his house. Makes things a bit easier. People let their guard down in their homes, I have no doubt Arthur will do the same. He also won't think I'm stupid enough to try this again." SJ shrugs her right shoulder with a sense of ease.

"Right." Tom nods slowly.

He doesn't really know what to say. He, also, thinks it's stupid to try this again. It really is. Break into Arthur's computer while a gala is happening? And he's right here? And at his house? His sounds like an absolute train wreck about to happen and he is not wanting o do this. But he looks at SJ and she isn't smiling but she has this confidence about her where she really thinks they can pull this off. For whatever reason, she believes in them. So, he decides to trust her.

"You and Harrison are gonna have to go. So, you'll bring me as a date which hey, we'll get a laugh out of it because Arthur won't like it but he won't argue it either. He'll want you both to have dates as ya know, some weird-ass social norm o whatever. So, Harrison will bring Maty."

"So, what exactly is gonna happen hen? We just show up with you and Matty?" Tom's sighs, enough to give SJ the reassurance that he's on board

"We go together, we make nice. Play along for the night. And when the time is right, me and you sneak out and head to the office. Matty and Harrison stay in sight of Arthur. They call us, our phones on vibrate, telling us he's left."

"How're you even supposed to know where--"

"I've...." SJ starts, pausing for a few seconds before shifting on her feet. "Been in his house a time or two."

"What?" Tom nearly yells and it's like everytime he gets one secret and he thinks that's all there is, another one comes to the surface.

"Yeah, I'd rather not talk about it." SJ diverts her eyes to the floor, chewing the inside of her cheek.

It's a past life, one SJ doesn't like to think back on too much. Just another thing that blew up in her face. She becomes happy, something good happens, and then it gets ripped away. It's just not something she's ready to discuss, one even Matty and Mikey don't bring up. It's a need-to-know basis and Tom doesn't actually need to know all the nitty-gritty of her life before him. Sometimes, secrets mean nothing besides just keeping some privacy.

"Is it somethin' I should be concerned about?" Tom asks, brows furrowed with bits of frustration and confusion.

"Nope." SJ pops the 'p', keeping a straight face. "Has nothing to do with any of this or you."

Tom opts not to push further. It's not really worth it in his mind. They've just got done fighting and making up and this whole thing is just going back and forth. It's starting to even make him motion sick, the constant back and forth with SJ. Ups and down, fights and good days. It's just a rollercoaster, keeping him on his toes. For once, just for once, he'd like to be able to relax, not worry about anything, not even think about anything. But he just can't seem to get so lucky.

"What if we get caught?"

"We go the nearest room, make each other look a little messy. Everyone will assume we went off for a quickie." SJ gives Tom a small smirk with a chuckle.

Tom scoffs with a laugh. "That's your answer to everything, ya?"

"Oh, do you really think people are gonna start asking a fuck load of questions when we roll out of a room with messy hair and smeared makeup? Blissful smiles? Oh, come on now, Pretty Boy, they're not gonna question our sex lives."

Tom shakes his head and it's just. She has it all planned but there's so much that can go wrong. So much. If Arthur leaves and Harrison and Matty don't notice? Problem. If Arthur follows them? Problem. If Arthur won't allow SJ to come? Also a problem. How is this even supposed to work?

"I..I don't know, SJ."

"We have to." SJ pleads, her eyes softening as she puts her hands on his shoulders. "Okay, you don't have to help. I'll do it myself. I'll do it with or without you because this is all we got. We have to prove what he does. We have to have proof otherwise, we got fucking nothing. It's do or die."

"Feel like you've lost your mind a bit." Tom mutters.

"Every day that goes by and I'm stuck in this neverending loop of agony, I lose my mind a little more. Sometimes you gotta lose your mind to find yourself." SJ says, words level and on the brink of being nonchalant.

"Did ya just read that somewhere?" Tom's brow knit together, not amused.

"Maybe." SJ gives Tom a crooked smile making him laugh.

"Fine." He agrees with defeat but a smile is still etched across his face.

SJ puts up a finger. "Saved the worst for last."

"Fuck's sake, what else?" Tom lets out a groan, hoping this will all be over soon and they can just go back to their friends.

"There's gonna be this fight, it's a throwaway. Extra bets, extra money. Just a way to pin two people against each other that people really wanna see. We're gonna fight each other." SJ explains.

"What?" Tom raises his voice, brushing SJ's hands off of him. "How do you even know that?"

"Arthur, he'll want us to fight. He'll place the most money on it, probably get more people to bet on it. Fights with the most money are the ones that get put on the card. He'll wanna make sure you can beat me."

A sense dread falls over Tom as he knows what she's about to say and he will not do it. The whole point of this is so they won't fight each other. It'll be a blood bath if they do. Tom isn't gonna just throw in the towel and he doesn't even have to ask SJ because he knows she won't pull her punches even if her life depended on it. She's too proud, too much of a fighter. She won't.

"No." Tom's word is completely flat, expression blank.

"You're gonna beat me. I'm gonna let you--" SJ disregards the comment and continues.

"No. I'm not doin' it. You've gone fuckin' mad. I won't." Tom shakes his head, absolutely against this idea. It's not happening. No way in hell.

"Yes, you will. If you don't, you mean nothing to Arthur. He will know you won't win then. He'll throw you away then. So, you're gonna fight me, I'm gonna let you win, but you can't....you can't go easy. Give it all you got. Make it look real, Mikey and Matty will be there. I'll be fine." SJ tries to reassure, not really succeeding.

"I'm not gonna--"

"You will and I know you will because everyone pretends like they're self-sacrificing but they aren't. Gun to your head, you'll save yourself." SJ completely cuts him off, not willing to listen to him say no another time. "Or, you'll do it for Harrison."

Would he do this to save just himself? Or would he do it for her? How right is she? Tom likes to think he is a least somewhat self-sacrificing. It hurts a little to think SJ doesn't think he would sacrifice himself, to some extent, to help her. She's already done plenty to help him. Why wouldn't he do something to help her? Now, of course, SJ has a point about Harrison. He will do it for Harrison and SJ knows that.

"What about you, then, huh? Matty, Mikey?"

"I will be fine. I'll talk with Ian, he'll run with it so me losing does nothing. Me losing this one fight, that doesn't actually matter, won't affect me or Matty or Mikey or Travis. This fight, only affects you." SJ rambles it off and she sees the defeat in Tom's eyes and she feels so guilty but there's no other option. "I am telling you to do this. You have to. If you don't, that's it. This fight is in like a week, I think? Maye two. You have no choice. The gala isn't until after that. We can't do this alone. Not properly with a better chance of pulling it off. I need you to do this. For you."

"This is gonna suck, you know that, ya?" Tom asks, eyes pleading for a change.

"Yeah, but..." SJ pauses, going back to chewing the inside of her cheek. "That's the game, I guess."

"I hate it." Tom responds.

"I don't..." SJ just shakes her head, wanting to be done with this and wishing she would have just held off on this bit until tomorrow. "I don't want it to go like this but it has to. And...." SJ lets out a soft breath, eyes filled with sorrow. "I am truly sorry I'm asking you to do this. It's not fair and I acknowledge that. It's just....all we got, Tom."

Tom sighs and takes a small step toward her. "I know."

He caves in. It's not right. It's not fair but if this is really how the fight is going to happen, he knows she's right. Why would Arthur waste time into Tom if he can't be SJ in just some fight that doesn't even matter? He wouldn't. If anyone can take a loss and suffer nothing but some bruises, it'd be SJ as much as Tom hates it. But, a part of him is hoping Ian will hate it and SJ won't have a choice but to put in everything she has. If they have to fight, fine, but he doesn't want SJ not to try. It's different.

"We can't tell Matty or Mikey. They'll just freak out and by the time the fight comes, they'll either be so unbothered by it they'll look suspicious or they'll be so worried it'll be suspicious. So, they can't know. I'll take full responsibility for that one."

It's one thing to ask for this but now this has to be kept from her friends? They aren't gonna be happy and Mikey already isn't Tom's biggest fan. Surely, this is only going to make this worse. But, SJ has been right up to this point and she knows them better than anyone. If they seem suspicious, it could send a red flag to Arthur which would make the whole thing more complicated.

"Remember when I said I'd make it hard for you to not like me?" Tom asks and SJ nods. "You make it very hard to like you a lot of the time."

"Yeah, I've got that effect on people. Are you in or what?"

"You've not given me much other choice."

"Nope."

"You sure 'bout Ian?" Tom asks, the worry still etched in every wrinkle of his face.

"Eh, yeah, I'll swing by and talk with him. He'll roll with it. He wants his brother back, or at least to know what happened. If I let Ian in, he'll let me slide a few weeks without paying him."

"He fuckin' choked you last time? Think he's just gonna be fine with this?" Tom questions, brow raised with doubt.

"He's not like.....yeah. He will. I've known him a long time. You don't get into debt with a dug dealer you haven't know long. I got word he was almost busted a few nights ago. Means he'll be cooling down on his own using and that's mostly when he's the worst. Half-sober he's not terrible."

"There's still so much I don't understand about you." Tom lets out a sigh, shaking his head.

Everything is a bit insane but there's something about the way SJ handles everything that makes Tom believe everything is gonna be okay. She fights, everything about her is this fight mode. She fights against everything and anything and comes up with a way around the problem no matter how ridiculous the idea is. She just....does. Maybe it's because she's always felt she's had no other choice but to be the one on the front line, the one ahead of everyone else to protect them. Maybe it's just how she is, something in her bones. There's something, something more than just childhood trauma that's led her to this point. Lead her to be this fighter that she is today.

SJ pats his shoulder. "And you never will, Pretty Boy." She flashes a sweet smile before going to the bed and grabbing a blanket. "Ready to join the rest downstairs then? If we've sorted this out?"

Tom nods. "Yeah, yeah, guess that's fine."

"We okay?" She asks, watching over Tom as he shifts in his stance and he hesitates.

It's the hesitation. If people are really okay, okay with each other, maybe there shouldn't be a hesitation. There shouldn't be anything to think about. It should just be a simple "yes". But that's not what Tom's doing. He's looking at her, hands going into his pockets, clearly trying to think if they're really okay o not. Of course, they are but to what extent? She apologized which is nice. It's a work in progress. But....she's just so nonchalant about it and that worries Tom. If everything goes to plan, do they really have a future? What are they if they aren't fighting something bigger?

"What happens after this? If it works?" Tom asks, taking the blanket from her.

"What do you mean?" SJ furrows her brows, not sure what he's getting at. The goal is that they'll be free, it doesn't really matter what happens after.

"With us?" He points between them. "Seems we've only gotten this far cause we've been fighting this."

Sj shakes her head, taken aback. "No." She scoffs. "I mean, guess it brought us together but....I-I-I-I'd like to think there's more, I guess? More than this bullshit." Sj pauses for a few seconds. "We don't...." She shrugs her shoulders. "We aren't guaranteed anything. I like you, is that not enough?" There's a softness in her voice, something Tom has only really heard with their late-night conversations and he knows it's more than just this fight. It means something to her, too.

"No, no, it is." Tom rushes the words out. "Just wanna make sure there's...I don't know." Tom cuts himself off, not sure why he brought it up because even if there isn't anything concrete between them, it doesn't really change where any of them are or what's going to happen. So, does it really matter?

"You can tell me."

"You're just so calm about it all, makes it a bit worrisome."

It's more than just a them thing but something with SJ. He's kind of worried she's ready to give it all up. Call it quits with this. Not between her and Tom, but the fight. Like the fight he likes so much in her is gonna die soon. She's so calm, like the calm before things start getting really bad. Like she's at peace with any outcome. He's so scared she's ready to give up if one thing doesn't go the way it's supposed to.

SJ shrugs again. "Panic makes people stupid. People make mistakes when they're panicking or freaking out. So..." SJ sucks in a breath. "I stay calm, think the whole thing through a thousand times over without a word so everyone else can panic and freak or whatever the hell they want. If I stay calm, I can figure it out. I don't panic so everyone else can."

"Don't think it's good to bottle it up." Tom takes her hand in his, a thumb gently brushing over the top of her hand.

"Nah," SJ shakes her head, looking at their hands. "But I'm not given a lot of other options so." SJ walks towards the door, pulling Tom with her. "I promise, I'll work on it though....if, uh, if you'll give the time."

Tom offers a small smile and follows her. "'Course, I will." Tom says softly, offering her a gentle smile.

Doubts, those are normal. Everyone has doubts about everything at some point. It's normal so it doesn't bother SJ that he's doubting their relationship, doubting her, doubting all of this. She dumped a lot on him. A part of her would be surprised if he didn't have some doubt in his mind. That's the thing about trust. Having trust in someone doesn't mean you can't question them or have some type of doubt in them. You trust someone and still question if they're doing the right thing. The problem is blind trust. Blind trust just lets people get hurt. Everyone has to be able to question intentions and outcomes. Think for themselves. If this isn't the right choice for someone, they should be able to choose another route. So, for SJ, it's something refusing.

Matty and Mikey trust her beyond almost anything and she does them. But they've been friends so long it's almost hard not to have that blind trust. All three of them know they always have the best intentions for them above anything else. But with Tom, he doesn't know SJ like Matty and Mikey do. He shouldn't just blindly trust her even though she has both of their intentions at heart. Sometimes, it's just nice having someone question her. It makes her think harder. Is this the right thing to do? Is this the best option? What if it does fail? Can they afford that? All questions she wouldn't be wondering if it were just Matty and Mikey because they wouldn't question SJ like Tom does. Not in the same way. It makes SJ trust Tom more.

"You okay?" Matty asks as Tom and SJ make their way into the living room.

"Always." SJ mutters while Tom takes a seat beside Harrison on the couch and SJ takes a seat on the floor between Tom's legs, blanket wrapped around her.

"We're good." Tom confirms, the rest of the boys looking over at him.

"So, what're you gonna do about she who will not be named?" Matty asks, half-joking with attention turning to SJ.

"Ignore her until she eventually goes away." SJ laughs. "She'll be out of here in a week."

"Are you sure?" Mikey asks from the chair to the side of the couch. "She seemed more concerned this time?" Mikey says it as a question, hesitance in his voice.

The truth is that he hasn't seen SJ's mom show up caring that much, ever. She seemed honestly upset by the whole ordeal. He's not saying or insinuating that SJ should hear her out. That's not his place and he's never been in her position but he wants to make sure SJ is making the right decision for SJ's own mental health. He doesn't want her to, for any reason, regret not talking her mom.

"I know Arthur called her which ya know, how the fuck does he even know her? Like the fuck is that about?" SJ rolls her eyes voice growing annoyed. "But she's here to distract me. Leaving is what she's best at."

"How do you know it was Arthur?" Harrison asks.

"I know it wasn't Travis. She wouldn't just show up on her own after all this time. It's not some type of a coincidence that we're getting closer to the end and I'm not backing down. Arthur is a desperate, slimy, piece of shit."

Tom remains silent and he just gets so angry. Not at SJ or her friends but at Arthur. He's also sure it was him based on what SJ has said about her mom. He doesn't think she'd just show up. He wouldn't be surprised if Arthur was buying her off to show up here and try to mess it up. The thing that pisses him off though is why? Why can't he just continue to mess with Tom and Harrison? That pisses SJ off, too. Is that not good enough? Why does he have to come for SJ's family? And this doesn't just affect SJ. He doesn't know Travis, but it's probably affecting him, too and now he's the one stuck with their mom. It's all a bit fucked up and every day that passes is just another day Tom sees the lengths Arthur will go to get what he wants. And that just won't do.