"Oh?"
"Yeah.I used to gauge how you were feeling just by watching you in that exact spot reading."
I'm not sure how that makes me feel—the fact that he observed me so closely, that he remembers those little details.There's something both flattering and unsettling about being seen so completely.
"Well we're a lot like books, I guess."The words come out measured, deliberate, because this metaphor has been forming in my mind for weeks.
"Most people only see the cover—judge us by our appearance, our reputation, the stories others tell about us.A minority read the first couple of pages, maybe give us a chance to make a first impression.Or they just believe what everyone else says about the story.But few..."
I pause, meeting his eyes, seeing something there that looks like recognition, like relief.
"Few actually know what's really on the inside."
The silence that follows isn't empty, it's full of understanding.I can see it in the way his expression shifts, the way something settles in his chest like he's been holding his breath for months and finally remembered how to exhale.
Jake comes and sits down next to me, hands clasped on his knees, leaning forward and tilting his head toward me while resting his cheek on his shoulder.The position is so familiar, so achingly reminiscent of all the times we've sat exactly like this.
"I ended things so shitty last summer with you," he says, his voice quiet but steady."You didn't deserve any of that.I was just angry.At myself, at the Nate?—"
“At me?”
“It wasn’t like that, I just?—”
"We don't have to go back and revisit the past."
"You're right.But I still owe you an apology.I was a dick.To you, to Ollie, to Nate."
"I mean..."I let the words trail off with a slight smile, the kind of gentle teasing that used to be our language, and Jake laughs—actually laughs—for the first time in what feels like forever.
"Look, it was a rough time for everyone.I’m not holding anything against you Jake."
"You'll always be my person Nora.Even if I'm not yours."
I reach for his hand, squeeze it once, and let the gesture speak for itself.
"Jake—"
"No, look...I'm trying to...Fuck."
He runs his hands over his face that gesture that means he's wrestling with something bigger than he knows how to handle.
"I'm sorry.Everything is just so fucked up right now, with you, with Nate, with this shit going down with dad."
Something in his tone shifts, and I feel the conversation tilting toward darker territory.
"Wait, what is going down with your dad?"
Jake's face changes, and suddenly I'm looking at someone who's been carrying a weight that's slowly crushing him.
"Everything he’s been doing," he says, his voice flat with the kind of exhaustion that comes from holding toxic secrets."I know it was all illegal.He's been planning it for years, and I tried to pretend it was just business until some things started setting off alarm bells in my head.So I started digging only to realise how deeply I've been part of the process."
"Jake..."
"Nate is about to have all the documents that will burn it all to the ground," he continues, and there's something like relief in his voice, like he's finally allowing himself to speak the truth out loud.
"What?How did he get the documents?"
"I gave them the location on where to find them, him and Jay are there now.But I don't think it'll be enough.Dad is always two steps ahead of everything, of everyone.There's more, in the office and on other offsite locations.I'm going to get them."
