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“Hey,” Pierce says, pulling my attention. I look at him. “It’s okay. We’re not mad.”

“You seem mad.”

Forge sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“I’m… frustrated,” Forge admits. “I understand why you did this, but this could have been very helpful from the beginning.”

“I know, and I’m sorry,” I say, tears stinging my eyes.

Pierce comes over to me, pulling me into a hug, my hands caught between us.

“It’s okay. Thank you for giving it to us now. That’s what matters.”

I nod against his chest. When he pulls back, he looks down at me. “What else did you want to talk about?”

“Don’t you want this?” I ask, holding it up.

“Yes, but there’s something else you need to talk about, that you thought was important, so we’re going to talk about it first. Right, Forge?”

I look at him, and it takes him a moment, but he finally nods and comes over.

“Of course.”

I go to him, hugging him next.

“I’m sorry,” I say.

“Don’t be sorry,” he says. “It’s okay. Everything will be okay.”

I hope he’s right.

He holds me tightly, kissing the top of my head before letting me go.

I hand the little object to Pierce.

“Do you know what it is?” I ask.

“Yes,” Pierce says, shoving it into his pocket. “It’s a thumb-drive.”

“What’s a thumb-drive?”

“It stores data,” Forge explains. “You connect it to a computer and it opens up a folder so you can see what’s saved on it.”

“Like how the DVDs store a whole movie?”

“It works differently, but it’s the same idea,” Pierce adds.

“So you won’t know what’s on it until you connect it to a computer?”

“Right,” Pierce says. “Which we will do after we talk about the other thing you want to talk about.”

I nod, wiping my eyes.

“Can we sit?” I ask, reaching for my chair.

I realize my hands are shaking. I’m not scared, I think it’s just the adrenaline that’s still running through me over being nervous to tell them.

“Yes,” Pierce says.