I set down my tea. I know.
Do you? She leaned forward. Because Raven almost died feeling abandoned. Lucas spent months by her bedside while you were saving the world. And I had to leave because staying near you made me a target.
The weight of that settled—all true.
I’m sorry, I said quietly.
I know you are. Aurora’s hand found mine across the table. But sorry isn’t enough. You have to actually show up now. Not just when it’s world-ending. For the regular stuff. The boring stuff. The friendship stuff.
My throat tightened. I will.
Good. She squeezed my hand. Because I missed you. And I want my friend back. The one who existed before them. Who laughed at terrible jokes and stayed up too late studying.
That person’s still here, I said. Just… different now.
I know. We all are. Her expression softened. But it doesn’t mean you get to forget your friends.
Scout climbed down from my shoulder onto the table, his bones rattling softly. Aurora smiled at him, tentative but real.
How’s Raven? she asked.
Better. Slowly. Lucas has been… I trailed off. Lucas has been incredible.
He loves her, she said. And he stayed. Even when you couldn’t.
The truth of that stung. I know.
So show up for them now, Aurora said. For me. For all of us who were here before the world tried to end. She paused. I’m not saying choose between us and them. I’m saying you have room for all of it. If you actually try.
I looked at her, at the friend who’d stood by me when the heirs had made my life hell. Who’d celebrated when I discovered my necromancy. Who’d been there for the quiet moments that felt small but mattered most.
I want to try, I said. I want to do better.
Then do. Aurora stood, picking up her tray. Friday nights. Our old study group. You, me, Lucas, and Raven when she’s up for it. Nothing world-ending.
I’ll be there.
You better be. But she smiled as she said it. Because if you stand me up for another romantic crisis with the heirs, I’m telling your mom everything.
I laughed. That’s playing dirty.
I learned from the best. She squeezed my shoulder as she passed. See you Friday, Mari.
I watched her go. She was right. I’d built something with the heirs—something real and powerful and worth keeping.
But I’d also had something before them, something that deserved to be kept too. Scout chittered softly, pressing against my palm.
You’re right, I told him. Time to show up for everyone.
LATER, I FOUND THEM BOTH in the library. Raven sat at their usual table, a book open in front of her as Boris moved slowly and deliberately across the pages, with Lucas across from her, his glasses pushed up and a highlighter in hand. Normal, almost. The shape of it was familiar enough that something in my chest ached.
Lucas looked up first. His bird familiar tracked me from the back of his chair, quiet and watchful.
Hey, he said.
Hey. I stopped at the edge of the table. Can I sit?
He nodded.
