Eugene got out of the alleyway near his house with the envelope prickling his hip. It would be less problematic if he could open a portal directly into his room, but Laz and Godric insisted that it would be best if he teleported to somewhere else since his parents were better off not knowing about Terra Pax.

Eugene was not the type of person that enjoyed lying or hiding things from his parents. He preferred not to. It was one less preoccupation, and he wouldn't feel like garbage every time he saw them.

He tidied his uniform, following that familiar path home. Those streets never seemed so lonely or dangerous. He hated admitting it to himself, but he missed Dallon. Even knowing he was only his friend to protect him as he grew, he couldn't tell apart the Dallon he knew, who was his friend, from the Dallon from now, the Ghoul's Bridge, the guy who was only following orders.

"Eugene!" He heard a familiar voice behind him.

"Dad?" The boy turned, surprised. "How strange seeing you so early. Did you get out of work earlier?"

"Oh, yes. I wanted to spend some more time with you and your mom, you know how she's been lately. Could you lend me a hand?"

Eugene nodded, taking some of the bags his dad was carrying. "What is this?"

"Some stuff your mom asked me to buy. It seems she's making cookies." He smiled. "She's been in a good mood, despite everything. Unlike a certain someone." The man elbowed his son lightly. "What happened? Why didn't you come back with Dallon today?"

"Uh... Well, he didn't go to school today. He didn't answer my messages, either. Nor my calls." He said, sighing.

"Well, that's strange. I saw his mom today at the market."

Eugene's eyebrows tried to meet his hairline. "Really? Did she say something to you?" He could seem a little bit desperate, but hey, he thought Dallon had gone back to Colombia!

"She just told me they were stressed with the move. Did you know that? It seemed quite sudden, this move of theirs."

"I... Knew something about the move, yes, but... not much."

"I thought it was a little weird." He said, thoughtful. "Oh, speaking of which, do you have any plans this weekend? Rosa asked us to go to Lilah's birthday party.

"Lilah?"

"Yeah, Delilah, Dallon's little sister, don't you remember?"

"Oh, yes!" Eugene said, a little too loud. "Sorry, I was just shocked I had forgotten. I do remember her. And I have no plans besides a basketball game this Saturday, so I don't know if...

"You have a game this Saturday? That's good, Rosa asked me when the championship would begin, she wanted to watch you play." His dad smiled, taking his keys from his pocket.

Eugene pursed his lips, having trouble in believing how he just fucked up. He couldn't have kept his mouth shut, could he? That's great, he did not even know how to lie to his parents, now he had to lie to Rosa, too? And besides that, he would have to meet Dallon on the weekend, at Delilah's birthday party. What would he say? 'Hey, I know you didn't go back to Colombia, you bastard'?

He heard his dad's surprised yell before he saw what was going on. The magic siren on his head went off instinctively. He could block the magic flux before he blew something up, fortunately. Turning to look at the door, he saw two pale arms around his dad's neck, his mom's blond hair whipping from one side to the other.

Eugene felt a smile forming on his lips. "You almost gave me a heart attack, Natalie." His dad said, putting a hand on his chest, above his heart. "I'm too old for this."

Natalie merely laughed, pushing him inside the house as she approached her son. She opened her arms with an enormous smile on her face and Eugene wasted no time; he jumped straight into her arms, wrapping his arms around her in a hug.

"My baby, I missed you." She said. "How was your day?"

"It was good mom. How about yours?" He asked, finally letting her go.

"Great. Let's get in, it's cold outside."

His mom had asked his dad to buy all of those things because she wanted to bake a caramel apple cheese danish pie, Eugene's favorite. Who even needed dinner if you had one of those at home?

The three of them were sat on the table. His father talked about what had happened earlier, how Rosa called them to Lilah's birthday and such. Eugene, in the meantime, filled the emptiness of his soul with pie.

"How wonderful!" Natalie said. "It's been so long since the last I've seen them! It's going to be a good family weekend, don't you think, Eugene?"

He just nodded, his mouth too full for him to be physically able to say anything in a comprehensible manner. His mom was happy, and that made him feel a little bit guilty about being mentally divided between choke Dallon for lying to him or lying in fetal position in a dark room because their friendship meant nothing, huh?

"You will end up suffocating in pie one day, Eugene." He heard his father murmur.

He swallowed his pie and smiled at his dad, showing him how he gave no fucks because that was his favorite pie and it tasted better when you ate it in large portions.

"Mom, I worship you." He turned to Natalie, bowing to her. "This pie is magical, how do you do this?"

She merely laughed, shrugging. "I bake it with love, it's probably that."

'I have to ask Laz if there is any type of magic that makes food have a better taste.' He thought. There probably was, after all. Who knows, maybe all of his mother's magical potential went to that area.

Eugene tried to throw his worries away at that moment. The letter could wait. His dead uncle's wishes could wait. At that moment, he just wanted a little bit of peace with those who were still alive.