“Where is he gonna go?” I whisper. “Back to Ralph? So he can get the shit beaten out of him again?”

“Jamie, Noah tried to beat the shit out of you, literally last night.”

“Come on, he wasn’t going to do anything, it didn’t even pick up on your energy - um - radar? What’s the word I’m looking for?”

“He can stay at my place.”

“Your place is the size of a shoebox.”

Aiden blows out a frustrated breath. He takes my hand and gently squeezes my fingers.

“Do you want me to be constantly worrying about you?” he murmurs, looking pained. “What if this is a trap? What if Ralph sent him, to like, I don’t know-”

“That’s pretty far to go for a trap, even for Ralph. Look at Noah’s face, it’s busted to bits.”

“Jamie-”

“Just for tonight, then. Until we can come up with a plan?”

Aiden bites back what he was going to say. He turns to look at Noah, who has gotten up from the couch and is awkwardly digging through his backpack with his left hand. He glances up, apparently sensing that we’re looking at him, and Aiden cringes as he gets a second look at Noah’s mauled eye.

“If I’m in trouble,” I tell him softly, “Like, real trouble, you’ll hear it, right?”

“Yes, but-” Aiden presses his palms to his eyes. “Ugh! This is temporary, okay? Only until we can figure out what to do with him. Promise me. Please.”

“I promise.”

Aiden’s lips twist. He straightens up and faces Noah again.

“Hey,” he says sharply. Noah pauses, fixing his good eye on us. “You are so damn lucky that Jamie is so nice. Know that.”

“What - stay here?” Noah gets back to his feet, a little wobbly, clearly unbalanced by his injuries. “With Keane?”

“Unless you have a better idea?” I call, and Noah chews his lip. “That’s what I thought.”

“You break anything else in this apartment,” Aiden warns, “And I will personally make sure that you replace it.”

Noah moves around the couch and joins us at the kitchen island, where he leans his elbows on the countertop.

“What do you want?” He directs the question to me, fiddling with his bandages. I glance at Aiden for guidance, but he also seems confused.

“What?”

“What do you want?” Noah repeats. “I can’t help you re-up your stash right now, not when I’m on Ralph’s shit list. I don’t have any fucking money, and even my fists are out of commission, so. What do you want from me?”

“I - want you to clean up all the glass you broke yesterday?”

“What else?”

“Dude, what do you mean? Nothing else.”

Noah narrows his open eye like he can’t tell if I’m serious, and Aiden tosses his hands in the air.

“Alright, I’ve had enough. I need to go to work, I’m already - shit. I’m so late. Text me, Jamie?”

“I will.”

Aiden nods, gives Noah a meaningful look, and heads for the door. I start rooting around in my cabinets again; I definitely have some Advil somewhere, and it’s not just for Noah. This whole thing is a big fucking headache, although I suppose I’ve brought it down on myself.

“Listen, Noah.” I find the bottle and turn to face him. “If you’re going to stay here, even for a little, you need to swear that you’re not going to get drunk and go apeshit on me again. I’m not having that, okay? I will take all of these bottles out of here.”

“Fine.” He runs his good hand over his face, the early sunlight picking up the tattoos on his fingers. I got a long look at the ones on his injured hand last night, when I bandaged him up. Some of them are stick n pokes, and some of them seem professional. I wonder if they’re still going to look the same after his hand heals. Ralph really did a number on him.

“Would it be easier for you, if I take the bottles out of here?”

“No difference.” He takes the Advil bottle from me and tries to open it, then hisses, shaking out his hand. I snatch it back and pop the lid off. “I don’t drink that much, normally.”

Not true, but also, I suppose it’s fair to say he drinks less than Ralph or Grant - or Aiden, back in the day. So far as I recall, Noah usually goes for the kind of fun that comes in pill or tab form.

“Okay… and I’m putting a cap on what kind of shit you can do in here. Bud only. Nothing heavier than that. I will not chase your molly-fueled ass up the street at 2 AM-”

“Haven’t touched that shit since I got lost in the woods.” It’s barely noticeable, but Noah shivers. “That night - was-” He cuts himself off.

What was that night like, from Noah’s end? I haven’t really thought about it. Aiden and I knew he wasn’t in any potentially fatal danger, but he didn’t know that. I’ve been on a bad trip or two before, myself, but nothing that scary ever happened in the real world around me at the same time. It must have been horrible for him.

Still.

“Okay, those are the rules. If you break them, I’m fucking serious-”

“Fine, fine. Whatever.”

I should have known better than to expect a thank you. I slide two Advils across the counter, trying not to glare at him. He takes and swallows them immediately.

“So what, you’re like Aiden, you can fit your life in a backpack?”

“No, I just grabbed what I could carry.”

“Please tell me there’s a toothbrush in there somewhere, cause I’m not sharing.”

He scowls at me, shoving a handful of black hair out of his face.

“I’ll fuckin’ find it, alright? Jesus.”

“Good. I need to shower if I’m going to be on time for work.” I pause, looking at him. “Do you work, dude? I just realized I don’t know. You’re always just like - at Ralph’s house.”

“I’ve been helping him run his op.”

“Welp. Looks like you need to figure out how to do something else.”

“I can do other shit,” he snaps, obviously irritated. “I’m a fucking certified electrician, okay? But the money came easy helping Ralph, so.”

“Cool,” I tell him. “You can fix the light in my bathroom. Earn today’s rent.”

Noah snorts.

“Yeah fucking right,” he mutters, turning away.

I wait until he’s busy with his backpack again, then quickly pull all the bottles down from my liquor shelf and hide them in one of the cabinets. Just to be safe. I’m trying to think more like Kasey, plan ahead a little better.

Oh, god. Kasey. I’ll have to tell her that we’ve got a new temporary roommate. I think I know what she’s going to say.

~~~~

“Oh, Jamie.”

“I know, I know.”

“You dummy,” she groans, poking me in the ribs. I don’t feel it, but I jump a little so she can feel like I did. “You can’t help yourself, can you?”

“What do you want me to do, kick him out to sleep on the street?”

“I don’t know. Yes?”

I make a face at her over my shoulder as I unlock the shop.

“Literally the only other option was to send him back to Ralph, and I would feel like a total piece of shit doing that. You haven’t seen him, Kase-face, he looks… Ralph must have gone fucking crazy.”

“Shouldn’t we like - report that shit, or something?”

“Seems like that should be Noah’s choice to make, I dunno.” I open up the shop and take a grateful inhale of the familiar green scent. This is the first time I’ve felt any semblance of calm since Noah showed up at my door last night. I flip on the lights and run my eyes over the window displays, pinching off a few dead leaves. “Anyways. Did you go see William last night? Or not see him, but, you know.”

“Mhm.” Kasey’s eyes darken. She stares absently out of the windows for a moment.

“Still upset?” I wish I could give her a proper hug.

“I don’t know. Maybe I shouldn’t have jumped with both feet. I know I can’t talk to Will, but the warmth he’s been sending me, it has a feeling to it. It’s almost like he’s trying to hold my hands. I don’t know how to describe it. It feels friendly, safe, not… Not like the kind of guy who would go around acting like a brute for hire, I guess?”

“Remember what Aiden said,” I tell her, dropping my bag into its cubby. “He should have the chance to explain himself.”

“I know that. It just sort of reminded me that I don’t know what I’m getting into here. What if we bring him back and he’s a total asshole?”

“Then he and Noah can be friends, and that’ll solve both of our problems.”

“Jamie. Seriously.”

“Well-” I pause behind the counter, stilled by the change in her tone. “We’re not going to just leave you trapped together in Ketterbridge for an eternity of hating each other, if that’s what you’re asking. But, Kasey - he's had two hundred years to reflect on what he did. He’s probably a completely different person now. Think how much Aiden has changed, and it hasn’t even been a decade, much less two centuries.”

Kasey breaks her gaze from the window and looks at me, an exasperated smile on her face.

“You’re always so damn ready to forgive everyone,” she says. “Who made you like this?”

My phone buzzes in my pocket. I pull it out, expecting a text from Aiden, but it’s a call from a number I don’t have saved. I make an I-don’t-know face at Kasey and put it on speaker so she can hear.

“Hello?”

“Keane. It’s Grant.”

I could honestly let out a twenty-minute long sigh of frustration.

“How did you get my number?”

“Easy, I’m just looking for Noah. Or rather, Ralph is.”

“So you call me?”

“I thought he might be with Aiden or something, but Aiden never answers when I call him, so. You seen Aiden, or Noah?”

“Why is Ralph looking for him?”

“Just wants to have a chat about some…” A pause. “Unfinished business.”

“You can’t really think I’m the person to call about this.” It’s not exactly a lie. I think I sounded convincing.

“You know, it’s funny, Keane, you sound a little flustered. Like you are the person to call about this.” Another pause. “Look, Ralph is sorry, he didn’t mean to do all that, Noah just pissed him off. It was a misunderstanding. Tell him to come back and we’ll work it out. Are you sure you want to get involved in this? Think hard, before you answer.”

I remember the expression on Noah’s face last night.

“Sorry to tell you, Grant, but I’m not giving Noah any messages. And he’s not with Aiden, okay? So you can stop calling both of us.”

“What are you, his mom? Ralph is going to find him, sooner or later. It’ll be worse for him, the longer he hides.”

“Why don’t you try phoning his actual mom, if you’re looking for him?”

“You’re useless,” Grant says, and the line disconnects.

Kasey and I stare at each other.

“Am I making a big mistake?” I ask, and she shrugs hopelessly.

“I don’t know, but - stay focused, okay? I need you and Aiden working on the glasses. I’ll go to your place and keep an eye on Noah, if that helps.”

“Excuse me! We are focused.”

“Are you?”

“Yes. We’re going to the Ghost Office tonight, same as normal.”

“Fine.” She points a warning finger in my face. “No snuggling until you guys put in some solid hours of work. The manager has spoken.”

~~~~

“What are the odds that I go back to my place and find Noah there with Grant and Ralph, having a party and throwing up on my curtains?”

Aiden is leaning his cheek against the top of my head.

“I don’t know. Fifty-fifty?”

We’re both tired out from a long night of having our connection open, trying to contain Aiden’s energy to one jar. The floor of the Ghost Office is basically a sea of broken glass, which we’ve elected to clean up tomorrow. I didn’t particularly feel like going home to hang out with Noah, and Aiden’s suggestion that we go to his place instead was more than welcome.

His bed is actually pretty cozy. Chilly night air rolls in through the open windows, but I’m in a lovely pool of Aiden’s body heat, resting my head on his chest, pressing my nose into the warm planes of muscle there. I trace my fingers over his lower stomach; I’ve learned that he’s not really ticklish, that he seems content to hold still and let me touch him however I like.

“How come you didn’t hear it, when Noah and Ralph got in their fight yesterday?”

“I did,” he murmurs, “but I didn’t think I needed to get involved. No one was in mortal danger, and the energy off that group - it’s constant chaos. There was a spike in volume, but that’s not the first time I’ve heard it.”

“It’s not?” I pause, my fingers hooking through his belt loop. “Like, that happens a lot?”

“Not a lot, but…” Aiden shrugs. “It’s happened before, sure.”

I fall silent, thinking, and Aiden shifts to press his nose into my hair. Even with everything swirling around in my mind, the little gesture makes my heart swell.

“Jamie,” he says softly. “I’m sorry about earlier. I didn’t mean to lose my shit on Noah like that. I don’t usually let my anger control me anymore... I mean, I’m working on it, all the time, but some days are harder than others. I just thought about how scared you must have been last night, and I didn’t even hear it, because I was asleep, and-”

“It’s okay.” I tip my head back and look up at him. “I know it’s a work in progress, you don’t have to ap-”

“No, I do. Okay? I do.”

I pause, then stroke a finger down the handsome scruff on his jaw.

“Okay. I accept your apology.”

“Thank you.” He kisses my forehead, and I settle my head back onto his chest.

“I’m actually surprised you didn’t blow anything up.”

“Energy can be released all kinds of ways,” Aiden says, and I close my eyes, enjoying the way his chest vibrates against my cheek when he talks. “It’s not an exact science, but sometimes a punch can divert an explosion. I’m glad it didn’t get that far, though.”

I let the silence rest for a moment.

“Aiden? Can I ask you something? You don’t have to answer.”

He likes to play with my hair when we snuggle up like this, I’m finding. He twines a red strand through his knuckles and gives it a gentle pull.

“Ask away, Companion Plant,” he rumbles.

God. I am never going to get used to this. But I have to stay focused.

“When did you start having problems with it? Anger, I mean.”

His fingers pause in my hair, and I hope I didn’t cross a line.

“Ah…” He clears his throat. “Probably right around when my mom left, I think.”

“When you were seven?” I stare up at him, taken aback. “Seriously, for that long?”

He blinks and glances away.

“Yes.”

“Oh.” I can tell he needs a moment, so I put my chin down on his chest. He doesn’t have to meet my eyes right now if he doesn’t want to. “Sorry, I’m just a little amazed that you even started finding your way back to yourself, after that amount of time.”

“Well, I-” He hesitates again, and I feel his heartbeat pick up tempo beneath me. “Yeah, that was the main reason, but I also wanted to find my way back to you, Jamie.”

I lift my head again, staring at him. Something strange is going on behind his eyes.

“What?”

“I-” He smooths a hand through my hair, stops, and seems to shake something off. “Nothing.”

“Aiden.” I sit up and take his face in my hands. “That poem that I wrote, you-”

He suddenly shifts, rolls us over so that I’m beneath him. I lose track of my half-finished sentence as he tugs my bottom lip between his teeth, nibbling it gently.

“Enough talking.” His voice is already dropping to that husky growl I’m steadily becoming obsessed with.

“You’re trying to distract me,” I manage, my breath stuttering as his mouth moves to my jaw. “I see right through that shit, just so you know.”

“Stop me, then."

"Absolutely not," I answer, and pull his face to mine.