Page 155 of All the way home

“Just you wait,” Kieran says simply, and then refuses to answer anything else until they’ve pulled off the road and down a long, trundling driveway, trees flashing past them in the dark.

When the car finally stops, both Tove and Mara get out at once, so they both are clearly in on whatever is happening. And ordinarily, not knowing would make Zach clam up and freak out, but right now, with these people, he feels oddly weightless, ready to be pulled along by their current.

When he moves to get out too, Kieran puts a hand on his shoulder. “Hold on. Wait here for five minutes,” Kieran tells him. “Then get out and walk straight down the path until you hit the backyard. Okay?”

“You’re going to murder me,” Zach says faintly.

Kieran pauses, eyes flashing with a mirth and a fondness that makes Zach’s stomach flip, and then, like it’s nothing, like he’s done it a million times before, he leans in and kisses Zach’s cheek. Softly, murmuring against his skin, he whispers, “My master plan.”

Then, abruptly, he pulls back, gets out of the car, and closes the door behind him.

Zach sinks into the seat, covering his eyes with his hands, and because it’s what he’s been told to do, he waits.

He watches the minutes tick by on his watch, blinking sleepily.

At four minutes and forty-five seconds, his phone starts to ring.

He thumbs at the screen, almost automatically answering—who else would it be if not one of the people planning his imminent demise?—and then stopping when he sees the distinctive green heart.

Seth.

It hits him, all at once, that whatever is happening on the other end isn’t for him at all. Just like the rest of their relationship, just like the crumbling end, this is happening on Seth’s terms, because Seth wanted it.

Zach takes a moment to think, then declines the call, decisively swiping into Seth’s contact and pressing the button he should have pressed months ago. Block caller.

Then he gets out of the car.

At once, the cold air blasts him. The car is parked at the mouth of a forest path, and all Zach can see around him is trees, stripped of leaves, eerie silhouettes in the moonlight.

Carefully, snow seeping through his sneakers, shivering, Zach uses his phone flashlight to pick his way after the footsteps that line the narrow walking path, listening carefully, but all he can hear is the rattling branches in the cold breeze and the creaking of the trees around him.

At last, the path opens. In the dark, it’s hard to see, but there are lanterns to illuminate the way forward. To his right, the many windows of a large lake house glint in the starlight.

In the distance, straight ahead, the lake is a vast, open plain, frozen over and covered in snow. Dawn is still more than an hour away, but it feels as though the horizon is starting to lighten.

The sound of a gunshot from above makes Zach jump, whirl around, a hand over his heart, and then he registers the brilliant burst of golden light.

“It’s not quite a meteor shower,” Kieran says, somehow suddenly at his elbow. “But I thought this might be a close second.”

There’s another explosion overhead. Zach tips his head back, breathless with adrenaline and wonder, as the sizzle of fireworks rains down, glittering. All he can manage, at the third break of wondrous light, is a single question. “How?”

“Turns out, you have some pretty resourceful people in your life,” Kieran says, gesturing wide. In the distance, Zach can see the figures of Tove and Mara huddled under the eaves of the lake house roof. “All I had to do was supply the fireworks. They did all the setup. Did you know—”

Zach wants to inhale whatever he’s about to say next, following the shape of the question, close enough to chase warmth.

“Did you even know how much they love you?” Kieran asks. He touches his fingertips to the side of Zach’s face, light and wondering.

“I’m a very,” Zach says, blinking up once more at the lights as a barrage goes off, the explosions thudding in his chest, “very lucky guy. This is amazing.”

“Like I said, it’s not a meteor shower, but—”

“Shut up,” Zach blurts out. “Stop talking.”

“Terribly rude,” Kieran says, grin as wide as the night. “Extraordinarily rude, even.”

Stomach flipping, Zach winds his arms around Kieran’s neck and pulls him in.

This kiss, under the dazzling lights of the best Ursid display of his life, takes no bravery at all.