This will be a two part story, with the second half giving up some more shipiness. If that's a word. I'm just going to say it's a word.

So because of a snowstorm that got me snowed in, I started to watch Friends. I love it so much, and it makes me think of this sometimes. I want to have Tori shout "Hey, that's not for you, bitch!" at someone sometime now. I just feel she would do that.

Also, I got a Tumblr and will be posting this onto it. It's agentmarymargaretskitz if anyone wants to follow.

So sit back, relax, and enjoy this.

Chapter 13: Truth or Dare

Melinda May raced up the stairs to reach her dorm room, still shivering slightly from the icy biting wind that howled outside. She'd just finished one of her winter finals in class she shared with one Phillip Coulson. As soon as she could, Melinda had gotten out of there. Since the night the Underground broke up and Phil saved her from expulsion, Melinda had yet to return the jacket he'd given to her to keep warm. It was stupid, but she couldn't get up the confidence to go over to his dorm and return it to him. Maybe he'd forgotten about ti. After all, it had been weeks, and everyone had been studying hard for exams.

The second the tumblers clicked, Melinda rushed in and slammed the door shut, panting slightly. The way she kept running back to her room after classes, sitting as far away from Phil as possible, and even skipping lunch altogether sometimes to avoid him asking about the jacket. It was all so ridiculous! No doubt returning the jacket was the right thing to do, she knew that. But deep down, Melinda loved the jacket and wanted to keep it. She liked to wear it because it was so warm and comfy. It still smelled like him, and brought back memories of the night he'd given it to her and how much safer she'd felt hiding with him from Orson and Chen. With the things she'd be facing after graduation from the Academy, sometimes one needed a little safety.

"Somebody's eager to get out of class the minute they're done," Tori smirked from her bed. She was sitting on top of it, surrounded by notes and review packets for another exam tomorrow. Tori had taken a different class this semester than Melinda, but was taking the one Melinda had just come from next semester. Melinda envied her for that. If she hadn't been in the class she'd just come from, she wouldn't have had to run back to the dorm room.

Her friend slid off the bed. "So how was it?"

Just as Melinda opened her mouth, the door opened and Linda entered. Her coat was covered in white powder. Looking at the window, Melinda saw snowflakes swirling about outside.

"You really couldn't wait to get out of there, could you?" Linda grumbled as she shrugged her coat off and flopped on Tori's bed. The owner grabbed her papers out of the way. "Honestly, did you get into some kind of trouble in the last couple weeks or something? Because I'm starting to think that you have based on the fact that you've been running back here almost every day like something's about to get you?"

"And if you did get in trouble, then where were we during it?" Tori teased good-naturedly.

Melinda swallowed. Was she really that obvious?

She plastered a smile on her face. "Nope," she answered cheerily while pulling out her own notes and handing them to Linda. "Here, quiz me."

"Okay, that's it!" Tori threw her papers up in the air. They rained down on the three girls gracefully. "We're taking a break."

"But we need to study," Linda moaned, stifling a yawn.

"Nu-uh," Tori shook her head. "We need to recharge. You keep losing focus every five questions. Melinda, you've been reading that page for fifteen minutes and I know you aren't paying attention. And my brain feels like mush. We all need to take a break and do something fun."

Melinda nodded. Tori was right about all of them. She couldn't even remember what the page she was reading was about. Nothing was sticking with her. "So what do you want to do?"

"Truth or dare?" Linda suggested, putting her notes back in her folder.

Tori snapped her fingers. "I love it! And because you're brilliant, you get to pick first."

"No, we have to keep studying!" Melinda cried out. She was worried about playing truth or dare, especially right now. When she had gotten back from the Underground that fateful night, her roommates spent the next morning pressing her for answers to what had occurred in the space of time when she had gotten separated from them. She'd told them that she had found a hiding spot underneath the first floor in a stairwell, but Melinda doubted they believed it.

"Come on, we need a break," Linda grinned. "You're not chicken, are you?"

"Just suck it up, they've probably moved on by now," Melinda told herself.

"Are you?" she challenged, hopping over to Linda's bed and flopping down beside her.

The girl beside her gave a laugh. "Nope, but maybe Tori should be. Truth or dare, Tori?"

"Dare," Tori answered. She almost always went with dare, because there were very few things that Tori would not do.

"Victoria Hand, I dare you," Linda paused. "To go outside and write your name in the snow with this!"

Reaching into her bag, she pulled out a bottle filled with yellowish liquid. Melinda stared at her open-mouthed, while Tori looked somewhere between disgusted and amused. Linda noticed the expressions and rolled her eyes.

"Oh it's just Mountain Dew," she assured them, showing the label on the bottle that her hand had been covering. "I tried to use it to stay awake for studying for an exam two nights ago. However, it was disgusting so I decided to stop drinking it. I forgot I had it, so now I'm finding a creative way to dispose of it."

"You're more twisted than I thought," Tori grinned deviously. "Done."

She jumped off her bed, grabbed the Mountain Dew bottle in one hand and her coat in the other, and ran out the door.

"Finally," sighed Linda as the door slammed shut, turning to Melinda. "So what's the deal with the running?"

Shit. "I'm not doing…there's no…just forget it."

Linda rolled her eyes. "Something's bothering you, Melinda. What is it? A class? Orson being a jack-hole? A boy?"

Melinda looked away from her friend at the last one, drawing a smirk from Linda. "Ahh, a boy problem. So who is responsible for making Melinda May become a runner? Is it someone I know?"

"Drop it, Lindy," she muttered, moving back to her own bed. She laid down by the headboard, moving her fingers back behind it to reach the jacket for comfort.

"No," Linda bounded over to her. "Do I know him? Did he do something to you? Because if he did, then you know that Tori and I will kick his-"

"I don't want to talk about it!" Melinda withdrew her hand from the space as discreetly as she could. Linda, unfortunately, caught the movement.

"What's this?"

Before Melinda could stop her, she reached forward and pulled the jacket out. Melinda lunged, but Linda dodged it out of her grasp.

"Please give it back," Melinda pleaded, feeling her face flush red.

"Oh my god," Linda shrieked. "It's Phil's, isn't it! You like Phil, don't you!"

"That's not his," she protested weakly.

"OF COURSE IT IS!" Linda's scream was practically jubilant. "It's got Captain America's flipping shield on it! Everyone knows that Phil loves Captain America! Have you not seen his cards? Wait, did you get this the night the Underground broke up?"

"No, I…wait, why would you even think that?" Melinda's brain felt scrambled and she couldn't stop herself from blushing.

"We hid in the bushes and conveniently found John and Felix there too," Linda explained. "They were all part of it and we didn't even know! But apparently Phil had been with them and he was missing and now I totally bet he was with you! Did you hide together?"

Before Melinda could answer, the door opened and Tori burst in.

"I finished doing it, and you would never believe how many people-"

Melinda didn't get to find out what the people were doing (although she had a feeling they were watching Tori complete the dare) as Tori's eyes were drawn to the jacket Linda was holding. "Uh-oh," she thought.

"HOLY GOD IS THAT PHIL'S JACKET!" Tori screamed, pulling it from Linda's arms.

"Um…" Melinda began, but Linda was nodding rapidly.

"THAT'S WHAT YOU WERE WEARING WHEN YOU CAME IN! I WAS ALMOST ASLEEP WHEN YOU CAME IN, BUT I STILL SAW IT!" Tori smiled wickedly. "Oh, please tell me you were hiding with him the night of when the Underground busted up."

"Oh my god." Melinda buried her head in her hands. "Please don't tell him about it. I still haven't returned it yet. I've been meaning too, but-"

"Then that's why you've been running!" Linda realized. "Ohhh, Melinda."

"We have to do something about this," Tori said, a devilish look in her eyes.

Melinda's eyes widened. "No, we don't."

"Okay, you will then," Tori smiled. "Melinda, I dare you to return the jacket to Phil right now."

"I should get a choice between truth or dare," she countered.

"Hey, you said you wanted to return the jacket," Linda pointed out. "You've got an opportunity now, so why not?"

Melinda looked at the jacket and sighed. She was never one to back out on a dare, but she was going to miss that jacket. If she didn't return it now, then Tori and Linda would be sure to question Phil about it. That was the last thing she wanted to happen.

"Gimme," she muttered, snatching up her coat.

Tori tossed her the jacket, and Melinda headed out of the dorm room, down the stairs, and outside on the path to reach the boy's dorm.

"She's going to do it!" Tori danced happily. "Do you think she suspected anything?"

Linda shook her head. "Nope."

"Excellent." Tori clapped her hands.

"You know, this is all great and everything that we got her to go, but can I come out now?" a muffled voice whined from the closet.

Tori hurried over and opened the doors. John slumped out onto the ground with a groan. "There is not a lot of space in there," he complained as he stood up and stretched out.

Tori rolled her eyes. "Well, you wanted to see what would happen, and Melinda wasn't supposed to see you, so that was my best idea."

"Well, your idea needs to have more space next time. There's too many hangers in there," grumbled John. "So does she think that you guys found it today?"

Linda and Tori nodded. "She had no idea we've known for two weeks," Tori giggled.

"Nice touch bringing up the game to play," Linda complimented. "I did need a study break."

"Oh yeah, me too."

"So are we going to listen to these two idiots finally get together or not?" John removed a binder to uncover the transmitter. "I didn't come and set this bug up for nothing."

Well, I think I'll leave you all to sit on that little nugget for a while. I will add the second part later, and then I will give you all a long-delayed Christmas piece.

Please leave a review. What do you think is going to happen when Melinda goes to return the jacket?