“I was supposed to leave,” I say slowly. “That was the plan. That’s always my plan. Or it has been, since I started traveling after I lost Evie.”
Finn’s expression tightens slightly. “Yeah. You’ve mentioned.”
“But every time I think about actually leaving…” I hesitate. “It doesn’t feel like relief. It feels like… walking away from something I don’t understand yet.”
Finn’s gaze drops, then comes back to me. “That’s because you don’t.”
“That’s not comforting.”
“It’s not supposed to be,” he replies gently.
Zane shifts slightly closer, his shoulder brushing mine. “You don’t have to figure it all out right now.”
“I feel like I do,” I admit. “Because this…” I gesture vaguely around us, at the unit, at them, at everything that just happened. “This isn’t small.”
“No,” Finn says quietly. “It’s not.”
“And you…” I look at him, then Zane, then the space where Ryder had been standing earlier. “You’re not small either.”
Finn exhales slowly, leaning his head back against the wall. “Yeah. That’s kind of the problem.”
Zane’s voice is softer. “We didn’t expect this.”
“Me either,” I say quickly.
“No,” he agrees. “But it’s happening anyway.”
“I’m not… naive,” I say after a moment. “I know what this is. What you are. What this life looks like when it’s not controlled.”
Finn glances at me. “You saw a pretty mild version, for the record.”
“That’s not comforting either.”
“Working on my delivery.”
Zane doesn’t soften it. “We didn’t plan this. But it’s not going away either.”
“And you think I am?” I ask, because I need to know what they think. What they expect.
Finn shakes his head slowly. “No.”
“But you might,” Zane jumps in.
“I don’t want to make a decision based on fear,” I say.
“Good,” Finn murmurs.
“Or guilt,” I add.
Zane nods. “You shouldn’t.”
I take a breath. “Or… momentum.”
Finn huffs softly. “That one’s harder.”
“Yeah,” I admit.
“And whatdoyou want?” Zane asks.
