Everett was well acquainted with the dull throb of uncertainty; he knew what it was to be stretched too thin between diverging expectations and between conflicting standards. The weight of it bore down on him. Still, Julien took his time before answering. He finished off his water before he confirmed that Everett could search for the others. Something in the phrasing or in the silence surrounding that one word response rang with foreboding discouragement. Everett hesitated for a fraction of a second. In the back of his mind, he knew that Julien wanted him to stay. He knew that by turning toward the door, he was choosing to make a mistake.<br/><br/>Julien seemed to have calmed down, Everett reasoned as he slipped into the empty halls, and Maddison shouldn’t have ever been forced to play peacekeeper over their business. This was just one in a series of fuckups – one that Everett was determined to fix even if that meant throwing himself in boiling water down the line. Julien would understand -- probably.<br/><br/>Alone with just the echo of his footsteps, Everett considered turning back. However, rounding one more corner, he caught sight of the two. A shameful sigh of relief escaped his lips as his pace slowed to casually meander toward his friends. He should have known. He shouldn’t have drawn rash conclusions and he shouldn’t have left Julien alone in the art room. Still, he turned to rest his back against the lockers and let himself slide to sit down beside Maddison. Wearing a wide grin, he draped an arm over Maddison’s shoulders, darting his gaze between Maddison and Case as he searched for any context for whatever conversation he’d missed.<br/><br/>When he’d turned the corner, the two had their eyes locked – seated closely with Case’s hand on Maddison’s chin. There was a somberness to they way the two were slouched but the intimacy of that gentle bit of contact hadn’t escaped Everett’s attention. For the briefest moment, he felt a twinge of what he assumed Case had felt just earlier. Surely, surely, if something was going on, Mads would have mentioned it. Then again, he hadn’t said anything. Nerves made way for guilt but his smile didn’t falter.<br/><br/>“You guys need a room?” he joked. His tone immediately dropped to something more serious to append, “Listen, Case, man, I’m really sorry. I wanted to say something right away. It’s just— I needed—we needed—to figure things out first, you know?”