It sneaks in even after you kill it.
When I step into the main room, unwrapping my hands, it’s not Nora standing there.The figure at the wall has broader shoulders, familiar posture, hands shoved in his pockets like he’s trying to look casual and failing.
Nick.
“What are you doing here?”slips out harsher than intended, but I don’t take it back.
He turns, grinning like no time’s passed at all.“Well, that’s one hell of a greeting.I missed you too, kid.”
Something loosens in me without permission.I pull him into a hug, and he claps my back with enough force to shift my ribs.The man’s steadiness hits me harder than the punch bag ever could.He was there when no one else was.
Not by blood—just choice, which counts more.
“You look good,” he says, stepping back, scanning me like he’s checking for cracks.“Healthy.”
I snort.“Speak for yourself.So you finally grew a pair and asked her to marry you, huh?”
His laugh fills the room—warm, surprised, stupidly happy.The kind of laugh you don’t hear often from people who’ve lived through the shit he has.
Javier slips out with a wave.“I’ll be back in twenty minutes.Don’t break anything.”
Once he’s gone, Nick’s smile fades into something quieter.
“He says you’ve been doing well here.”
I lean against the wall, crossing my arms.“I get why you came out here years ago.This place lets you breathe."
“But breathing isn’t living forever,” Nick says finally.
I swallow that down.It lands too cleanly.
“How’s… everything?”I ask, though I’m not sure I want the answer.
He sits, folding his hands.
“Sonder’s thriving.Jay’s stepped up, he’s running the place like a well oiled machine.We moved him into his own apartment.Your mom?First big client for events.”
He gestures at himself.
“And Kat’s clinic is open.Massive pain in my ass with council paperwork, but it’s been worth it to see the smile on that woman’s face.”
There’s something else hiding under all that good news.I can hear it in the gaps.
“Nick.”
He exhales.
“South Side’s changing.Not naturally though.Families are disappearing.Houses are being vandalized and random fires have been burning down small businesses everywhere.Danny thinks someone’s pushing people out.”
That old instinct—the one that lived in me long before I had the language for it—stirs.
“Why are you telling me all of this?”
“Just thought you should know what’s going on back home, that’s all.”
Home.I don’t know if that place is home anymore after last summer.
“I’m not sure I can go back yet,” I say before he can ask.“What if?—”
