And for a heartbeat, I realized he hadn’t expected me to be here. Maybe he thought I left the house and he planned to lookaround without worrying. Maybe he was going to try to sneak out, which would be the worst idea any Omega could ever have.
“I have food, if you go have a seat,” I tilted my head towards the table. “I’ll bring you some.”
After a second, Kasey moved towards the table. His steps were light, but heavy, like his body wasn’t quite awake enough to do more than follow orders.
Once he sat, arms still across his torso, his eyes glancing around the space, just like he had done the first time he sat there.
Although there was still a flicker of panic in his eyes, it was nothing like terror from hours earlier. He seemed steadier now, fragile, yes, but calmer, and all I could hope was that the Drive Hold residue was finally working its way out of his system.
“I thought about waking you,” I said as I set his bowl on the table, letting the steam rise between us, “but you looked like you needed the extra rest.”
I placed my own bowl down and took the seat across from him. Distance, not avoidance, space he could breathe in, even though every instinct in me wanted to sit beside him, close enough to steady him if he wavered.
Kasey moved slowly, like each motion had to be checked against a rulebook he no longer trusted. His arm lifted with hesitation before he set it on the table next to the bowl. His eyes fixed on the soup, studying it with a kind of quiet intensity, and I found myself wondering what was going through his mind.
Was he trying to decide if he was allowed to eat? If it was meant for him? If this was some kind of test?
Whatever it was, he didn’t reach for the spoon. He just stared, as though the simple act of being offered food was something he didn’t quite know how to navigate.
“You can eat. However much you want.”
Kasey’s breath caught a tiny, startled sound like he hadn’t expected me to tell him what to do. His fingers twitched against the edge of the table, like he was waiting for more orders.
I shook my head softly, reading every flicker of fear this poor boy carried. “You don’t have to wait for command. You don’t ever need permission in this house. You’re allowed to eat whenever you're hungry. Food will never be used as punishment in my house.”
He blinked, slow and unsure, as if the words didn’t fit into the world he knew. His gaze dropped to the soup again, then up at me like the little, tiny rule was the best thing ever. I saw the longing for it to be true in his blue eyes.
“It’s okay. Go ahead, sweetheart.”
That seemed to reach him. Not fully, but enough as Kasey reached for the spoon and slowly brought a bite to his mouth. He held the spoon tight enough that his knuckles turned white.
Time,I thought.He needed time.
Time to heal. Time to realize what I meant.
With each bite Kasey took, his shoulders relaxed bit by bit. His face softened.
Kasey kept his eyes low, fixed on the bowl as though it held the rules he was supposed to follow. Every few seconds, though, his eyes flickered up to me. It was quick, nervous glances, checking for my reaction.
He took another bite, slower this time. His hand trembled but he didn’t drop the spoon.
I kept my posture relaxed, leaning back slightly in the chair, giving him as much space as I could without feeling like I was abandoning him. He needed room to breathe, but he also needed to know I wasn’t going anywhere.
“You’re doing fine,” I said quietly.
His eyes snapped up, startled, like he hadn’t expected me to speak. Then he looked down again, shoulders tightening for a moment before settling.
He was listening. He just didn’t know how to believe me. And that was okay. I could work with that. It had been less than a full twenty-four hours in my care, and it’d take time.
As he ate, I noticed the way he kept mirroring my movements. Tiny things, barely noticeable unless I was paying attention. When I lifted my spoon, he lifted his. When I set mine down, he paused too. When I shifted in my seat, he straightened a little, almost as though he was ready for an order.
“I never introduced myself,” I sat my spoon in my empty bowl. “I’m Evander.”
I got a single nod before he took his last bite.
“You’re free to speak your thoughts here.”
Kasey wrinkled his nose, and the reaction hit me with a wave of memory so sharp it almost knocked the air out of my chest. That tiny scrunch, half confusion, half quiet displeasure, was the exact one he used to give me when he was little and didn’t like the smell of whatever snack I’d brought him, or an idea that wasn’t interesting. Back then, it had been enduring. Now it was something fragile. A flicker of the boy he used to be peeking through everything Lockswell had carved him into.
