As soon as he started for her, Katelyn ran down the hall to meet him. She threw her arms around him and pulled him close. Aaron held onto her like she was the only thing keeping him upright and let her pull his face into her shoulder. Neil heard her voice, but not what she was saying. It was muffled where she'd pressed her face to Aaron's neck and shirt. Aaron didn't answer, but Katelyn didn't let go.

Renee came down the hall next and gave Nicky a short, tight hug. "How are you?"

Nicky shook his head wordlessly. Renee wound an arm around his waist and propped herself against his side for support. She looked to Kevin next, but Kevin was looking at Aaron and Katelyn. She left him alone and looked at Neil. Her gaze was quick to drop from his face to the racquet he'd carried up from the car. From the way her stare lingered, Neil knew Wymack had told the upperclassmen what Aaron used to bash Drake's skull in.

"We should get out of the hall before people start heading to dinner," Neil said so she wouldn't say anything to him. "Nicky and Aaron don't need to deal with a crowd tonight."

Renee nodded and guided Nicky down the hall. She touched Katelyn's shoulder on her way by in a silent beckon to follow but didn't stop to wait on them. Dan and Matt went into the girls' room at their approach, but Allison waited in the hall with her hands on her hips. She studied her younger teammates' faces as they passed but said nothing to them. Neil paused in the doorway to check on Aaron. Katelyn was pulling him after her, so Neil went inside.

Allison was the last one in and she locked the door behind them. Neil stood off to one side in the living room so she could get past and watched everyone get settled. The coffee table was covered with liquor bottles and clean glasses. Dan poured drinks and Matt passed them out. When Matt held one out to Nicky, Nicky caught hold of Matt's wrist instead.

"Thank you," Nicky said, quiet but fervent. "I don't know why you did it, but—thanks."

"Mom said she still owed you guys," Matt said. "Coach wouldn't take her money when she offered it last year, so she figured this was just as good."

If Matt's mother thought posting Aaron's bail was an appropriate response to the cousins drugging Matt with speedballs, she had to be as dysfunctional as the Foxes themselves. Neil was grateful for her financial support, but he idly hoped he would never have to meet her.