"Cassian!"
Ignoring everyone else in the room, she cupped his face gently, her eyes immediately finding the bruise darkening along his jaw.
"Oh God, you're bleeding."
Her brows knitted together anxiously as her fingers carefully brushed the corner of his mouth.
"Does it hurt?" she asked softly. "We should get some ice."
Cassian caught her hand and squeezed it reassuringly.
"I'm fine, Juliet."
Juliet looked anything but convinced.
Her brows remained knitted together as she gently turned his face toward the light, carefully examining the bruise already darkening along his jaw. When she noticed the split at the corner of his lip, her expression tightened immediately.
"You're bleeding," she said softly, her fingers hovering near the cut. "We should get some ice."
"It's just a scratch," Cassian replied, covering her hand with his own. "Don't worry."
But Juliet was already searching his face for any other injuries, completely oblivious to everything else around her.
A few feet away, Vincent stood perfectly still.
Blood dripped steadily from his split lip. One side of his face was already beginning to swell, and the skin across his bruised knuckles had broken open during the fight.
Yet Juliet hadn't looked at him once.
Not once.
As he watched her fuss over Cassian, a memory surfaced so vividly that it stole the air from his lungs.
He had accidentally gotten a paper cut while opening a package.
The cut had been so tiny that he had barely noticed it.
Juliet, however, had reacted as though he had been stabbed.
She had dragged him all the way to the infirmary despite his protests, scolding him for being careless while carefully holding his injured hand in both of hers. For the rest of the day, she had hovered around him constantly, asking every few minutes if it still hurt.
Back then, even the smallest injury on him had been enough to make her worry.
Now he stood right in front of her, his lip split open, blood drying at the corner of his mouth, bruises already darkening across his face.
And she didn't care.
The realization struck Vincent with almost physical force, leaving him momentarily breathless.
"Juliet."
His voice came out rough and uneven.
She didn't respond.
She remained focused on Cassian, standing close enough that their shoulders brushed. Her expression softened as she gently brushed her thumb near the bruise on Cassian's jaw, her brows drawn together with concern.
"Does it hurt?" she asked softly.
