"No Attenborough today?" Stella asks as they walk to school.

"If they walk 16% slower, the Walker siblings may be able to skip first period as a whole." August says in a British accent.

"I know." Stella says.

"I don't mind that idea." Janie comments.

"I can't handle having to explain to people again why they should feel sorry for us. Not when the last thing I want them to actually be is sorry. No one's gonna get it except you two and me. But... if you two ever want to talk..."

"I don't." August states.

"I never do." Janie says.

"But, hey, on the bright side, uh, at least being invisible to the entire school will finally work to my advantage." August says.

They walk up to the school and are immediately greeted by two girls.

"Stella, oh my God! Tell us everything." The blonde girl says.

"You poor thing. I can't believe you're back in school already." The other girl says.

"Yeah, shocker." Janie quietly mutters sarcastically.

"Augie, how are you?" Ruby asks.

"August." A blonde girl says, standing next to Ruby. She gives Ruby a look and the girl backs off. "You're so brave. Do you need anything?"

"You know my name?" August asks.

"Of course I do." The blonde says. The bell rings. "Maybe I'll find you after class." The three girls walk off, leaving the siblings.

"Suddenly I'm brave." August says, but sees his sisters' looks. "Oh, come on, it's better than "oh, his mom died" or "it's that quiet AV guy we keep on referring to as 'Arlo' for whatever reason.""

"Hey, not everybody calls you Arlo." Stella says.

"Look, our life has screwed us up so many times, all right? Why not take advantage of just one tragic thing?" August asks. The bell rings and he leaves.

"Because trauma isn't fun, August." Janie argues to his retreating figure. "You know, I'm both relieved and offended nobody came up to me."

Stella rolls her eyes, grabbing her younger sister's wrist, and dragging her into the building.

+++

Janie is at her locker and slightly flinches when somebody slams their locker too loudly. She sighs, calming down, reminding herself that she's okay. That's ruined when somebody touches her shoulder. The girl jumps, quickly turning around and swatting at the person's hand.

"Ow." She looks up to see Flynn.

"Oh. Hey, Flynn." Janie greets, going through her hair out of stress. "Sorry about the, uh, karate chop."

"It's all right. Um... I heard what happened. How you holding up?" Flynn asks.

"I'm... I'm good." Janie nods. "You know, just another thing to add to the list of bad memories." She humorlessly chuckles.

"Well, if you ever wanna talk... not that I can relate or anything, but I'm here for you." Flynn says.

"Thanks." Janie smiles.

"You wanna, uh, walk to class together?" Flynn asks.

"Sure." Janie nods. SHe gets her book out of her locker before shutting it and they begin to walk.

"How's the rest of your family holding up?" Flynn asks.

"They're managing. My dad's no longer a ranger so he's got a lot of free time on his hands now. Not sure he knows what to do with it." Janie says.

"August has been talking." Flynn says.

"Yeah, I'm aware. I keep, uh, getting surrounded by a bunch of our female classmates who want to hear about the whole night and everything. I mean, I write my feelings down in a journal, I'm good. Especially cause I don't really wanna tell a bunch of trauma fangirls about what happened cause they think it's "cool"."

"Well, if it makes you feel better when you wanna talk, know I do actually care about your feelings. Not your "awesome war stories"." Flynn says.

"Thanks." Janie manages a small smile.

+++

Janie sits across from Stella at lunch, rolling her eyes at August who is telling a bunch of classmates about the night at the ranch.

"Y'know, if he keeps being like this, I'm gonna punch him." Janie mumbles.

"Can we not talk about it?" Stella asks.

"Aren't you the one who offered to talk if we wanted to?" Janie asks.

"Well, yeah, but not in school." Stella says.

"Oh, so you're only available outside of office hours." Janie says.

"Jane... I-I just don't wanna talk about it. Especially with Augie not shutting up about it." Stella says.

"Okay." Janie mumbles, starting to pick at her lunch.

~ ~ ~

Janie is walking to class when Ruby walks up.

"Hey, Ruby." Janie greets, the girl preventing her from walking forward.

"Hi. Um, look, I-I just... I saw Augie in the AV room and, he-he was sitting on the floor with his hands covering his ears. And I-I really don't know if I should be saying any of this, but he is your twin, so I... I just want to make sure he's okay. He won't really talk to me." Ruby says.

"I'm... I'm sure he's fine. It was probably just... something. I mean, can't the devices squeal sometimes. You know, uh, feedback or whatever you call it. Maybe that was too loud." Janie comes up with.

"Yeah. Just, let me know if he's okay, if you can." Ruby says.

"Yeah." Janie nods and Ruby walks away. Janie makes her way to August's locker and finds him them, taking some books out of his bag.

"Hey." She greets, leaning against the locker next to his.

"What's up?" August asks.

"Nothing. Just, uh... Ruby said she saw you in the AV room." Janie says.

"It was nothing." August dismisses.

"You sure? Sitting on the floor with your ears covered doesn't totally seem like nothing." Janie says.

"Look, I don't wanna talk about it. You don't even like talking anyways." August says, with an agitated tone.

"Well, I wouldn't be talking, I'd be listening." Janie says.

"I'm good." August insists.

"Okay, well, when you actually wanna talk, and not just gloat to your fan club, you know where to find me." Janie says, walking away.

+++

Janie is at her locker when she suddenly hears her sister's voice.

"You left without me and Janie this morning is everything okay?" She hears Stella's voice. Janie looks around, but doesn't find her sister.

"Yeah. Yeah. No, I just needed to, uh, adjust some things before morning announcements. What's wrong?" August asks. Janie looks around, also not finding her brother.

"Everything is just... it's weird. And I feel like Bel is mad at me cause I didn't really want to talk about what happened at the ranch." Stella says. Janie thinks she's going insane before she realizes that other people can hear.

"Yeah, or maybe she's just wondering why you didn't tell her about that or, like, anything else. I mean, seriously, when was the last time you two talked about anything real?"

"Whoa. Anything real? That's all we do."

"I mean, not really. I mean, you-you basically disappeared after Trevor. Like you were only friends with Bel because you were waiting for someone else to show up. And whenever he did, you didn't have to wait anymore." August says. "In fact, y-you actually ran off."

"Crap." Janie sighs, starting to get to the AV room, ignoring looks from other students.

"It's not that simple." Stella tells her brother.

"Yeah, I-I know it wasn't. But don't you think it's a little weird that she told me about her parents before she even told you? Because you weren't there for her, Stella, and you haven't been. So, now something happens, and you expect everything to go back to normal?"

"Something? Look. I get that everyone is treating you like a hero, but you're laying it on a little thick, don't you think?" Stella asks.

Janie bursts in, about to talk, but August starts talking.

"Yeah, because honestly, Stella, I hate the reality, all right? Mom is dead. Dad left us for, like, a year. Your boyfriend held a freakin' gun to us, all right? People and family died right in front of my eyes. I can't get that out of my head. And now I fall apart whenever I hear a loud noise, Stella. That's who I am. All right? No thank you. It's better people think I'm a jerk than feel sorry for me."

"Uh, guys, you--"

"Quick question." Stella cuts her sister off. "Does that light mean we aired this whole thing to the entire school?"

"Yes." Janie answers, wincing. August quickly turns it off.

+++

August and Janie hear Cordell and Stella talking about him going back to the rangers.

"Stel, thank you for your support, but even if I were to consider going back to the Rangers, we'd still have to get the sign off from your brother and sister first." Cordell says.

"Yes." The twins state, walking in.

"Yes, dad. Just don't make me sand anymore." August says. "No, seriously, though, we, uh... we got your back."

"100% percent." Janie nods in agreement.

"Okay, so if you're going back... I think I might have something that could help DJ." Stella says. "The cops kind of scared me, so I didn't say anything right away. But... you really need to see this." Stella shows Cordell a video on her phone.

"Get out of the car." The cop on the video says.

"What did I do?" DJ asks as the twins walk closer to see the video. "What did I do?" He asks while being slammed against the car and handcuffed.

"You match the description of a robbery suspect in the area." The cop says.

"I didn't rob anybody, man." DJ says.

"What's this?" The cop asks, pulling out a bag of drugs.

"You know that's not mine." DJ says.

"You are under arrest for possession of illegal substance."

+++

"It's the last week of school. Don't you think you need to tell Ruby how you feel before summer?" Stella asks her brother.

"Stella, it's not that easy to just..."

"Come on, Augie. Show some spirit." Stella says.

"Yeah. Cause it's Spirit Week, yay." August says, obviously not excited.

"Is it Spirit Week already?" Liam asks, walking in.

"All right, I got some work to do. It's best not to keep things bottled up, trust me." Bonham tells his grandson.

"I never talk about my feelings. I'm fine." Janie says.

"Right." Stella chuckles.

"So, what's spirit week?" Bret asks.

"Oh. Liam's never told you about Spirit Week?" Abilene asks.

"No, Bret is here to help with the campaign, not to talk about Spirit Week." Liam says.

"okay, seriously, can we stop saying "Spirit Week"?" August asks. "It's kind of getting annoying."

"Spirit Week!" Stella exclaims.

"Spirit Week!" Stella and Liam exclaim.

"You totally set them up for that." Janie tells her brother.

"I have not heard of the week whose name we shall not speak." Bret says.

"It's what we call the week before summer break, when everyone's taking care of unfinished business they put off all year, like, I don't know, finally confessing their crushes." Stella says, holding a snack out to August with a pointed look.

"Thank you." He takes the food. "And, yeah, and making up for being a terrible friend."

"Or in Uncle Liam's case, both." Stella says.

"Ooh.." Bret hums.

"Half the school apologized for how I was treated when I came out, and the other half wanted to hook up before going off to college." Liam says.

"Hey, no phones at breakfast time, love." Abilene tells her son.

"No, I got talking points and the debate--" Liam says, seeing his mom's look. "OKay." He puts his phone up.

"OKay, so let me get this straight. Uh, everyone announces how they're gonna change, but the question is, is it all just talk, or do they actually act on it?" Bret asks.

"Are you talking about Spirit Week or the debates?" Liam asks.

"Are you making this all about you now?" Bret jokingly asks. The two leave.

"Well, I'm perfect, so... I can just have a relaxed week." Janie says.

"You're not perfect." Stella and August speak in unison.

"No, but I don't have a crush to confess or friends to make up with, so..." Janie shrugs, smiling. "And I write all my feelings down so I have nothing to rant about."

"Well, maybe you should try talking about feelings more." Stella says.

"I think I'm good." Janie says.

"What about you, mawline? You need some talking points for those vows?" Stella asks.

"Excuse me, I have done this before, and things do get better with age." Abilene says.

"Love." Stella says, leaving.

"Love you." Abilene says.

"Thank you, mawline." August says.

"You're welcome."

"Love you." Janie tells her, following her siblings out.

Stella starts chanting "Spirit Week".

"Are you serious?" August asks.

"Oh, my God!" Janie groans in annoyance.

+++

They're at Stan's house to get ready for Bonham and Abilene's vow renewal. Stella rings the doorbell a few times, but gets no answer each time.

"Subtle, isn't it?" Bonham asks, referring to the sign that reads "Stan's Place".

"Didn't he say he was gonna meet us here?" Abilene asks.

"Hey. I found it." August says, holding up the spare key. "Let's go." He unlocks the door and they all go inside.

"Wow. If DPS pays this well, why does Stan want to be district attorney?" Bret asks. They start unpacking stuff.

"Oh, hey. Look how happy dad is here." August says, pointing to a picture.

"Oh, yeah. He was. Your mama gave birth to you guys the next day." Abilene says.

"Really?" August asks and Abilene hums, nodding.

"Work before family." Stella says. "I'm totally kidding. Dad's actually been kind of cool lately. Doesn't mean I still can't joke about it."

"All right. How are we gonna make this place magic?" Abilene asks.

+++

Bonham calls Cordell after they found out that he is holding Stan hostage and think Stan might've had something to do with Emily.

"Cordell, where are you, son?" Bonham asks, the phone on speaker.

"He killed her." Cordell says.

"I believe you. We all do. But you need to bring him in now." Bonham says.

"No, not yet. Not until I can prove he did it." Cordell says.

"Let us help you. Don't shut us out." Bonham says. "Trust me, what you need now is family. Don't do this alone."

"Daddy, I-I got to talk to my brother." Cordell says.

"Cordell, I'm here." Liam says, taking the phone from Bonham.

"Listen to me. I need your office to get protective custody for Carlos Mendoza." Cordell states.

"Carlos Mendoza?" Liam asks.

"He knows the truth about Stan, about Northside Nation, everything." Cordell says. "Liam, I need him safe."

"I'll do it. Where-where is he now?" Liam asks.

"I... I, uh... I have someone bringing him in." COrdell says.

"Cordell, did Stan confess?" Liam asks.

"No. Of course not. You and I both know he's gonna fight this till the very end. Hey, maybe there's something we can all do, all of us. Together." Cordell says.

+++

They're where Emily died and all get out of the truck, facing the truck that Stan and Cordell are in. They both get out.

"No more lies, Stan. No more games. You're gonna tell us the truth." Cordell states. "You're gonna confess. All of this -- this ends tonight."

"So, tell me. Tell me how it went. Tell my family." Cordell demands. "No. You know what? Tell Emily's family."

"Why would you want to do this?" Stan asks.

"You ever lost someone, Stan? You ever had someone taken from you like this?" Cordell asks.

"So, uh... Northside Nation-- uh, they control... the, uh... oh, they controlled everything." Stan says.

"You were with them?" Stella asks.

"So that's why my mom is dead?" August asks.

"No. No, no, no, I'm not with them. I wanted to save her." Stan says.

"Tell me how I'm supposed to believe a single word you say." Abilene says. "After everything. Tell me how I'm not supposed to kill you right now."

August takes out the poker chips he found at Stan's house.

"I found these at your house." August says, tossing them at Stan, landing at his feet. Stan picks them up.

"Well, you better start talking, you son of a bitch." Bonham says.

"Uh, we were making a drop down by the border. We knew where the surveillance drones would have eyes so we stuck to the roads that no one would be looking at. Anyway, we hit a pothole. And part of the shipment spilt out. So, you know, I asked Cali... what's the damage? And, uh, we heard something.. And we looked up and we saw her there. Emily."

"Cali saw that we knew each other. And that is was trouble. So she took a shot. And she missed. But when Emily started running, she saw that Emily was on the phone. She took another shot."

"There were two gunshot wounds, Stan." Cordell says. "She wasn't dead... when you found her, was she?"

"They owned me. They still own me. It's... I just felt like I couldn't take the risk." Stan says.

"Take a risk? Take what kind of risk? A risk on my wife, on my wife's life?!" Cordell asks.

"I know what I've done." Stan says.

"Well... I need to hear you say it." Cordell says.

Stan tells them, he shot Emily the second time.

"Why did you take the poker chips?" Liam asks.

"I don't know." Stan answers. "I mean, maybe I didn't wanna forget what I'd done. Um... but I think a part of me wanted to get caught."

"So, when did you decide to start lying to us?" Bonham asks. "Was it right away?"

"What about the, uh, first time you looked in my eyes? Was it then?" Cordell asks. "Or--or was it at Emily's funeral?"

"What about the intervention?" Abilene asks. "You sat on my couch and watched my son tell his children he was leaving them."

"When you called me "sweet pea" or Augie "sport" and Janie "sweetie pie," did you even think for a second about what you had taken from us?" Stella asks.

"I... I'm a selfish bastard. I... couldn't admit what I'd done. Every day, I tried... to forget it. When I was at your house, around your table, I-I... I just hated myself. I was trying to make it up to you every second, but what makes up for that? So, yeah, I pushed you out of town, undercover, cause I knew you'd never stop looking into what happened to Emily. I knew you'd never quit. Hell, I thought the Rodeo Kings might even end you."

"I'd throw the book at me if I could." Stan says, letting the poker chip drop. He holds his wrists out, ready to be handcuffed.

+++

Janie is in the kitchen, snacking on peanut butter crackers, while Stella sits in front of the couch, just looking at the fire.

"Hey." August greets, walking in. "Where are you right now?" He asks, sitting on the couch.

"The kitchen." Janie says, like it's obvious. August gives her a bitch face.

"Where are you right now?" He directs the question specifically to Stella who looks at him questioningly. "Uh, I don't know. You just... you... seemed a little bit away, I guess."

"Yeah. I was thinking about the looking glass. You know, mom and dad's mirror in their old bedroom." Stella says, the three siblings starting to laugh a little.

"Oh. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it's-it's weird. I'd-I'd find you, like, tapping all over it, like... like you were waiting for some invitation to the other side or whatever." August says.

"We always had bets to how long it would take before it was revealed you were mentally insane." Janie says, sitting next to August with her food.