synopsis. lani struggles with recovery. later, she crashes dani, megan, and lara’s livestream.
tags. this is lowkey a filler chapter, nothing heavy, sisterly, usual chaotic katseye livestream, mature language, mentions of eating disorder and gaining weight (no numbers or specfics)
minnesota | november 2025
megan dropped her microphone into the foam-lined plastic bin held out by a waiting audio technician, offering him a quick and breathless nod of thanks. she wiped a stray bead of sweat from her forehead with the back of her wrist, chest still heaving. naturally, her eyes immediately scanned the narrow concrete hallway, tracking the rest of her group out of habit.
sophia and lara where further ahead, laughing about something that was probably only funny because of how exhausted they all were. manon was fumbling with the tight laces of her boots while yoonchae knocked back a bottle of water like she hadn't had a single drop in weeks.
but megan was really only watching solani.
she was toward the back of the group, looking as if she were relying solely on autopilot as she moved down the hall. her microphone had already been delivered to the crew, hands now returning deep inside her pockets.
megan had never met a problem she couldn't solve.
a math problem, that is. she'd met plenty of unsolvable english questions—words that made no sense in their placement, passages with frustrating open endings and ambiguous metaphors. but that's beside the point.
the point was that solani had a problem, and megan couldn't fix it.
not even just the eating aspect, but everything. megan could pretend not to hear solani crying in her bunk on the tour bus every night, could pretend not to notice the teen shrinking further and further inside of herself. megan could easily play the part of the oblivious friend, but she couldn't fix it.
she couldn't bring solani's mom back. she couldn't undo the damage done by vicious hate comments, couldn't force food down the girl's throat, nor could she wave a magic wand and fix whatever distorted, broken image lani thought she saw every time she looked in a mirror. she couldn't even get the girl to talk about her feelings half the time; speaking with solani regarding any vulnerable topics often felt comparable to talking to a brick wall.
"that was insane!" dani pants as they reconvene in the green room. "how many people was that, like, five thousand?"
"eight thousand four hundred, actually." sohey grins, jogging to catch up. "sold out show."
"holy fuck!" lara curses with a laugh, holding a cool waterbottle against her forehead. "did you see the front during the mia outro? those girls lost their shit!"
"i mean hell, i just about did too watching marz lez out that like for the first time." megan quips. she drops onto the couch beside a quiet solani. "your note change was beautiful, lani."
"thanks," the younger girl beams at the recognition. "i was so nervous i'd fuck it up."
"well, you didn't." megan knocks into her shoulder. "proud of you."
"we all are." yoonchae chimes in. "you know that, right?"
"mhm." solani hums. she leans into megan's side, exhausted. "just so you're all aware, you're gonna have to carry me to the bus if we don't hurry."
sophia laughs. she crosses the room and grips the teens hands, pulling her upright. "not happening. c'mon—up you go."
solani groans dramatically but lets herself be pulled to her feet, grabbing her bag and disappearing into the bathroom to change.
her breath hitches in surprise as she strips out of her costume; while she was still purging in secret, it was clear that she wasn’t doing it as often as before. throughout the past two months, solani had to be extremely cautious when it came to restricting and purging—the girls were watching her every move, and lani had to be careful not to drop her guard.
now, though, as she looked in the mirror, it’s clear that despite her best efforts, solani definitely had gained a bit of weight back. the realization lodged itself in her throat like the stubborn pit of a fruit and she can’t swallow around it.
looking down to avoid looking at her reflection any longer, solani quickly changes back into her hoodie and sweats. taking a deep breath to steady the tremble in her hands, she unlocked the door and stepped back out into the green room.
once again megan's eyes immediately found her, catching the subtle grimace that didn't match the faint smile on the teens face. "everything okay?" she asked softly, keeping her voice low.
"oh, yeah—just tired." solani lied, offering a practiced smile. "that was so fun; i can't wait to do again in toronto!"
"i know, me neither!" daniela chimed in with a grin, tossing an arm around solani's shoulders. "i love canada, like, so much." she moves her eyebrows up and down with a knowing smirk and solani groans, wiggling out of her grip.
"ew, dani," the younger girl frowned theatrically. "keep your freaky shit to yourself."
dani's jaw drops, offended. "oh get your head out of the gutter, solani!"
"i'm just saying—if i have to listen to you thirsting over jonas for two days i'm throwing myself out the bus window."
"i know you know his name, lani." dani rolls her eyes, the ghost of a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "not falling for that."
"damnit." solani murmurs, grinning cheekily.
"ten minutes until load out, girls." missy sticks her head through the doorway. "pack up your personal bags, hoodies on, and let's move. security says the barricades outside the back exit are already packed."
solani climbs the steps of the bus, a strange sense of loss sitting heavy in her chest. megan and lara's families had both been waiting backstage with flowers and congratulations for their first show; sophia, dani, manon, and yoonchae had all called or messaged their own parents at some point that night.
and, not wanting to feel left out, solani had texted her thirteen year old brother, who she knew would not respond until hours later; although there was only a difference of one hour between mexico and minnesota, it was nearing one in the morning and mateo still had a bedtime of nine, because he was only a child. her little brother. not her mother, because she'd been gone four months, and certainly not her father, because he'd been gone before she even had him to lose.
manon must have sensed solani's inner turmoil; she grabs the younger girls hand as they enter the bus, squeezing once. "she's so proud of you, lani."
"i know." not wanting to cry, solani swallows the unbearable lump in her throat and lets go of manons hand. "just sucks not having anyone to call."
sophia is beginning to climb into her bunk but immediately pops back out upon hearing this. "you can call my mom, lani. you know she loves you, probably more than she does me."
lani returns the older girls gentle smile but shakes her head. "no, that's okay. i'm really tired anyways." she crawls into her own bunk, not at all surprised when manon wordlessly slides beside her.
the bus rattles along in near silence for close to an hour, the only sound keeping it from being entirely quiet being passing highway traffic. this tranquillity is broken when solani hears faint giggling filtering down from the front of the bus, where megan, lara, and dani are illuminated by the bright glow of an iphone as they livestream on weverse.
as she strains to listen through her bunks curtain, she overhears megan whispering to the camera, assuming someone had commented asking about the youngest member's whereabouts.
"someone asked where solani is," megan murmurs to the live viewers. "uh, probably sleeping."
solani hears dani giggle. "yeah, she's knocked the hell out right now."
refusing to miss out on what she presumed would become a rather entertaining live, solani leaned a half-asleep manon to peak through the heavy fabric of her bunk's privacy curtain. "no she's not!" she whisper-yells down the aisle.
the three older girls giggle in unison, twisting their bodies to glance down the narrow walkway toward the back of the bus. "lan, d'you wanna come say hi real quick?" lara invites warmly, her face lighting up as she waves a hand to beckon the teen forward.
solani glances back down at manon beside her, gently nudging her shoulder, "i'm gonna sit with dani for a few."
"huh?" the eldest girl barely manages to open her eyes. "oh, yeah. okay, go ahead." she murmurs groggily into her pillow, rolling over.
solani rolls her eyes affectionately at the girl who had clearly just taken over the teenagers bunk, but climbs over manon's sleeping form slowly anyways, careful not to disturb her any more than she already had.
she shuffles down the aisle quietly so as to not wake sophia and yoonchae in their own respective bunks before dropping beside daniela on the bus's built-in sofa.
"here she is!" megan quips from her spot on the floor below, tilting the phone upwards to show the new arrival. "guys, we have a special guest!"
"my child," daniela teases, slinging an arm around the teens shoulders and pulling her further into frame. "did we wake you up?"
"no, no." solani blushes, shaking her head. "i wasn't sleeping." she leans further into dani's side to make room for everyone to fit into the cameras lense. "i hear i was requested?"
"yeah, no one cares about us." megan sighs with a dramatic pout. "you're the fan favorite."
"yeah, well." the teenager grins, a smirk tugging at the corners of her lips. "tell me something i know."
dani giggles, not unkindly, before correcting gently. "the saying is 'tell me something i don't know.'"
"that's literally what i said." solani insists.
"you said 'tell me something i know', which basically means that you don't think you're the favorite." lara breaks in to explain, failing to hide her amusement at the younger girls confusion.
solani furrows her eyebrows together at lara's poor explanation, her mind moving far too slow this late at night to be able to process an english lesson right now. "huh?"
"oookay, movin' on." lara transitions with a laugh, putting on a fake accent. "anyways...y'all wanna ask us some questions?"
they spend the next few minutes scrolling through the flashing comments, giggling at a few absurd usernames before lara suddenly falters, frowning. "ew, not that one." she mutters, quickly swiping past a specific comment.
"what'd it say?" dani asks curiously, leaning forward to get a better look at the screen.
"someone said lara please give advice on how to get with solani," lara reads, eyes narrowing as she leans closer to speak directly into the camera. "lani is a child. you freaks need to get a job."
"ew—look." megan points to the commenters profile picture. "it's a grown ass man with a whole beard saying that shit."
"listen, i'm flattered, but—¡ay mierda!" solani is instantly cut off by dani's sharp elbow connecting with her side. "what i was going to say—if you had let me finish—was that i'm flattered, but not looking to settle right now."
megan rolls her eyes with a groan. "ew, lani."
"what! i'm turning sixteen in a month!"
"shut up, i don't want to talk about that." daniela whines. "that makes me feel old as hell."
"don't be dramatic; you're literally twenty one, dani." solani retorts, rolling her eyes at the theatrical display. "it's not like you're eighty."
"i dunno...have you heard her hips when she stands up?" megan quips from the floor, promptly earning a sharp whack to the back of her head from the older girl sitting behind her.
"acting like yours don't, too." solani sasses easily. "you guys are all old."
"okay, isn't it past your bedtime?" daniela fires back, sticking her tongue out.
"real mature." solani smirks. "you guys called me in here in the first place!" she defends loudly, though she and the other girls know she's only teasing, grateful to have been wanted. she leans closer to the screen to read more incoming comments. "someone just asked that if we had a superpower, what would it be?"
"mine would definitely be teleportation so i could go anywhere in the world, anytime i wanted to."dani answers, adopting a poor southern accent.
"mine would be telekinesis, or maybe mind control." megan chimes in excitedly. "no, wait—definitely mind control!"
"hmm," solani pauses for a long moment, tapping her chin thoughtfully as she weighs her options. "i'd want to be able to fly. that'd be so fun."
"i'd say teleportation, too." lara adds, agreeing with daniela.
"yeah, 'cause like—we're on tour, right?" dani explains. "if we could teleport, we could teleport to toronto right now and not have to take this bus."
"right, right." lara nods, agreeing. "my main thought, though, was that if you were ever in a dangerous situation where, like, someone was trying to hurt you, or there's a tsunami coming; you could just teleport to safety."
"okay, but if you're in a dangerous situation you could just mind control the person who's putting you in that scenario." megan argues her point, gesturing wildly with her hands.
"but if you could fly, you could just superman yourself outta there." solani quips, her expression entirely serious. "that's so much cooler than just disappearing into air."
megan, dani, and lara collapse into a fit of laughter at the younger girl's comedic timing. they had grown to cherish and appreciate whenever they managed to catch a small glimpse of the old lani; before she became somber and blue, solani had once been sunshine personified, full of color and a light that had been almost entirely dulled since the loss of anabela. while she had been a bit brighter on stage and during soundcheck, the older girls knew that, in part, it was only solani trying her absolute best for the eyekons who had come to their show.
since her disordered eating had been brought to light, the girls had watched nearly helplessly as solani constantly battled against herself. one day she could be doing so well in her recovery, sitting and eating with the girls, and the next she might be crying herself sick over a piece of bread. they'd learned to meet the teenager where she's at, and were just glad to see her putting any bit of effort in at all. it had proved rather difficult to respect and help navigate solani through her indescribable grief, while simultaneously trying to keep her from the one poor coping skill she had believed was truly helping...especially since they were doing this all while hiding it from any management staff.
daniela suddenly snaps megan and lara from their thoughts as she leans over the two girls' heads. "are we goin' to shake shack or not?"
"shhh!" megan immediately hisses, shushing the older girl not to give away their location. "why would you say that?"
lara rolls her eyes with a groan. "daniela!"
"what, i'm hungry!" dani defends herself. megan mutes the livestream as daniela turns to solani beside her, dragging the teen into their argument. "lani still hasn't eaten since before the show—right, lani?"
solani throws her hands up. "woah, woah—why're we dragging me into this?"
"that's not the point!" megan sighs, exasperated. "you just told a bajillion people where we're going!"
"well, there's a bajillion different shake shacks!" dani retorts, not getting the younger girls point. "they don't know which one we'll be at!"
solani watches silently as the older girls bicker back and forth, still muted. a pit forms in the bottom of her stomach at the mere thought of eating right now, especially fast food.
she shuffles out from the couch, faking a yawn. "i'm actually about to fall asleep, guys. tell the eyekons i say goodnight!" not waiting for their protests solani slips out of the lounge and back down the hallway toward their bunks.
