Mei closed the door of her apartment once she was sure Haze had left. She had woken less than an hour ago, her mind was still slightly clouded by tiredness. What had been that about? It made no sense to her.

Wait. Was Haze going to tell Cas all of this? Was ze going to tell them that she wasn't interested in a relationship? Would that be so terrible? No, right? That's what Mei believed. She wasn't ready for a relationship. It had only made everything worse.

Stop with this mess Mei, you know it's the best for you.

But is it? Deep down, she missed Cassey. Truly did. Their optimism, his energy, the way they light up the room with just her smile... And how they listened, how she accepted Mei being a vampire, how he was fine with her being ace, how they didn't complain with helping through panic attacks, how they still tried to keep by her side even if Mei was being terrible... Had this been a mistake?

No, it couldn't have. Even so... Even so, now Haze's words had gotten into her brain. Was she actually better than other people Cas had dated or was it flatter? Was Cas really going through a rough time or was this a strategy? Haze had said Cassey didn't know about zirs visit. Haze looked like the kinda person who would say the truth. Maybe... maybe the lack of messages was Cassey respecting her decision and not wanting to be overwhelming instead of apathy?

Doubts kept spiraling inside Mei's head, although this time not all of them were crushing her down. A bit of her soul was starting to shine. It was small, but it'll grow with time. Could Cassey and her get another chance and make things work?

...

"How you doing sweetheart?" Haze asked Cas when they got out of her room, hair up in the messiest bun ever. They hadn't slept great, partly because she stayed up late watching a cheesy movie and only rested for a few hours

"Meh, ya know, average," He replied, walking over to the freezer, grabbing the ice-cream.

"Ice-cream? For breakfast? In autumn?"

"It's sweet, it's cold, it's nice. Don't try 'n scold me for it."

"I wasn't going to," Haze looked down at Cas as he opened the ice-cream and started eating it. Ze shook zirs head, set the tea down on the table and sat next to the werewolf.

"Alright, listen up, this is the plan for today. You eat some ice-cream, chill a bit, go back to bed. When you wake up, we eat lunch, and then you braid my hair since it's starting to grow again. We talk, discuss you getting a haircut, you go to work. Sound good?"

"First of all, did you think this schedule through, or did it just occur to you? Second of all, do I have a saying on what we do? Third of all, why not, good plan, let's do it."

"To answer your questions; yes, I did think this through, I've been planning ever since I woke up. Yes, if you'd rather not do some part of the plan you can decide to do something else, but since you said it's a good one, I think it's settled."

"Cool. Also, what's wrong with my hair?"

"Well, it's hella long, it's starting to get crazy. Also, I thought it was a tradition to cut your hair when you ended a relationship. Helped you move on if I recall."

"Oh. Oh, right," Cas passed a hand through her tangled hair, "So you believe there's no chances of us getting together again?"

"Nope. At least, for the moment. The cute gal hasn't been answering, and things ended up pretty badly. You need some air, getting your hair cut will prob help out with that. But if ya don't wanna, you don't gotta."

"No, no, you're right. It'll help it settle," Cas put the spoon down, looking up at Haze, "Have I told you you're the best friend I could ever ask for?"

"I think so, but you don't do it barely enough considering how well I care for you."

"Pffft! It's never enough for you, isn't it?"

"I just like the attention," Haze shrugged.

"Of course you do," Cas laughed. He stood up, closed up the ice-cream box, putting it back in the freezer, "I'm gonna go to my room again and try to take a nap. Nice talking to you!"

"The pleasure is mine," Haze smiled back.

Cassey smiled, going back to their room, closing the door being her. Once he was sure that Haze couldn't see them, Cas pulled their hair off the bun, letting it fall down her shoulders. They walked up to the mirror, staring at his reflection. The long, messy, tangled hair fell down her right side. He combed his fingers through it, thinking about the words of their roommate. It was time.

Last time they've actually cut their hair after a breakup had been a long time ago. Sure, there was touching ups on the shaved sides, but this was going to be different. It was part of the ritual, a new start. When things hurt, cutting his hair made Cas feel freed. And this breakup had hurt a lot. So now... Now the werewolf had to think how to style it.

As she laid down in bed, taking out their phone to look for cool references, Cassey noticed a tear falling down his check. Weird, they weren't sad, right...? Well, maybe he was. Who knew? Now... Now better push it down and focus on silly things like hair. It was a better plan.

...

At the moment, Cassey was sitting on the couch while Haze sat in the floor, keeping zirs head and back straight for once while Cas re-braided zirs hair. For about two years already, Haze wore zirs hair braided down in corn braids; ze loved the hairstyle. The only issue was that hair grew. If hair grew, it meant the braids had to be re-done once in a while. Thankfully, Cassey had learned how to braid hair correctly so that the braids where so tight they didn't de-form too fast, and Haze didn't get sore arms from trying to do it all by zirself.

It hadn't been always like this tho. Back when Haze first decided to get this hairstyle, ze had to do the whole job zirself because Cas had no idea how-to do-good braids. The first time they had tried to do it, it had been a complete disaster. Thankfully, the skill had built up over time, so now the werewolf was "an expert" at the job.

The activity benefited both as well. Helped Cassey relax and ground himself, while Haze got zirs hair fixed, also getting relaxed with the action.

"I'm almost done," Cas said, hallway through the last of the braids.

"Great! Each time you make them faster."

"What can I say? Practice makes perfection. Now hold still, it may be the last one, but I wouldn't like to re-do this bad boy because it's not centered enough."

"Alright, alright, I'll stay still."

Cassey bit her tongue as they continued to braid. After a few minutes, he got a little, colorful hair tie, finishing up the work. They stood up to see the final result. Flawless.

"It's done!"

"Nice!" Haze stood up from the floor, running to the bathroom mirror, admiring zirs hair, "This looks great! You should apply for hairdresser."

The werewolf laughed at this last statement, "Wasn't I banned from using sharp objects unsupervised? I think being a hairdresser with you working by the plant shop counts as unsupervised."

"Fair," Haze strolled back to the living room, taking a seat on the couch next to Cas, "So, now that we're done with my hair, let's get to yours. Got anything in mind?"

"Actually, I do. Wait a sec, gotta find the reference pics" Cassey turned his phone on, getting in the gallery before passing the device to her best friend.

"OOooooOOooo, I like it. It's not too big of a change, but it'll look great, I bet."

"I know, right?" A smile formed in Cassey's lips, "It'll be shorter, but there'll still be room to play with it."

"Love it. I can imagine it and you'll look adorable."

"Btw, I already booked an appointment for my hair, I'll do it on Saturday."

"Nice!" Haze stood up, "Can't wait to see it."

"Me neither."