picking teams

chapter 9: janis

helllooooo and happy halloween!! welcome to FINALLY CADNIS YAY and a little halloween "date" :)

tw for
depression kinda
discussion of child abuse
discussion of homophobia
discussion of outing
discussion of death
discussion of divorce
alrighty enough discussing but as always if i've missed anything please let me know so i can add it to the list :)

enjoy!

—————

Janis sighs as she raps on the Herons' front door, shifting her heavy backpack to the other shoulder and folding her jacket over her stomach to keep out the chill.

Cady pulls the door open, seeming almost surprised to see her there. "Shit, hey. Did we have a session today?"

"Yeah," Janis says. "You okay?"

Cady looks like hell. She's in sweatpants and a ratty old t-shirt that probably belonged to one of her parents at some point, along with the never-matching socks she always has on. Her hair is clearly unbrushed and hasn't been washed in a while, tied in a careless knot on top of her head. And, on top of it all, she looks exhausted. Like she hasn't left her bed in the week since homecoming but somehow hasn't slept at all at the same time.

"Not really," Cady admits shyly. "Come in, we should get to work."

Janis steps inside, politely removing her boots before following Cady up the stairs to her bedroom like normal.

"Sorry about the mess," Cady says sheepishly. "I forgot you were coming or I would've cleaned up."

Janis has to hold back a gasp when she steps in. She's seen worse, and god knows her own room has been messier. But for Cady, this is terrible. There's tissues all over the ground, her bed is rumpled and unmade, and there's a half-eaten pint of ice cream resting on her nightstand with a spoon still sticking out of it, dripping melty goodness all over the wooden surface.

"My desk might be the best place," Cady continues shyly. Janis shakes her head.

"No way. We're not doing this today," she says.

"We're not?"

"Absolutely not," Janis says. "Go take a shower and get dressed."

"What?" Cady asks, a shocked laugh bubbling out of her. Janis snatches the robe and towel off the hook hanging in her closet and shoves them at her. Cady takes them wordlessly and pads off to the bathroom.

Janis tends to the room in the meantime. She picks up the ice cream (vanilla, which Cady went on a very long rant about a few sessions ago. Janis will never call it a boring flavor ever again) and takes it down to the kitchen, putting it back in the freezer and the spoon in the sink.

She wipes up the ring of vanilla residue on the nightstand just so it won't damage the wood, and lazily folds Cady's blanket back so that the bed is almost made. Janis would ordinarily do more, the way her gut is practically screaming at her to do, but she knows how embarrassing it can feel to have someone clean up after you, especially after a rough patch. Hopefully Cady will be feeling well enough after today to do it herself.

Janis shoves some tissues aside and flops down onto Cady's bed, staring at the ceiling. Cady's room is cute, but the Plastic side of her is ever encroaching like some kind of virus, infecting every aspect of her life. Her sheets are pink now, and there's a lot more selfies of Cady and the Plastics on her bulletin board than there used to be.

Cady comes back in after a while, clean and detangled curls wrapped up in the towel and her cheeks and ears flushed pink from the warmth. Janis feels her heart seize a bit, seeing her crush so... domestic.