Aiden stops at the bottom of the stairs, looking extremely yummy in his work clothes. Noah and I are sitting on the top step, a view that makes Aiden's eyebrows arch.

“Okay,” he says. “This is weird.”

My heart lifts as he climbs the rest of the stairs, and I have to stop myself from jumping on him. Just seeing him is a relief, right now.

Aiden reaches us and unlocks the door to his place. Noah awkwardly hauls himself upright, clinging to the railing with his good hand, his expression bored and sour.

“After you,” Aiden says, nodding to him. Noah steps into the apartment, and Aiden slides the door shut after him, sealing us on the other side. The man-bun miscreant realizes he’s been tricked at once; he turns around and bangs his unbandaged fist on the glass.

“Hey!” he shouts, his voice muffled through the door.

Aiden holds it shut, leaning on the handle.

“Jamie.”

“Okay, okay, I can explain-”

“What is he doing here? You said that you were taking him to Ralph’s house.”

“Well - he wanted me to, but. Look at him, dude! We can’t let him go back there.”

Noah is now trying to use his functional fingers to pry the door open, a completely useless endeavor when Aiden is holding it closed.

“He’s a grown man, Jamie, he can go wherever he wants. It’s not about us letting him do anything.”

“Obviously Noah is free to go wherever he wants, but he only wants to go back because he can’t think of what else to do. Even if we get him someplace permanent to stay, Ralph is going to find him, because this town is like the size of a thumbprint. Who knows what Ralph will do then, and look at what he already did to Noah’s face! Did you know that Ralph keeps all of his and Grant’s money, by the way? Like, in a safe that only he knows the combination to?”

Aiden pauses, absorbing the information.

“That… is troubling.”

“It is, right? And… okay, look, Noah is awful, but when he’s not with the group, and not completely shitfaced, he seems like he might actually be alright. Maybe. Sort of. A little bit.”

Noah chooses this moment to shout:

“What the fuck, Aiden! Open this fucking door or I’ll beat your ass when I get out there, and Keane’s, too, just for fun!”

I cringe as Aiden points to him.

“You were saying?”

“Okay, bad moment for me to put out that theory. But if we just leave him alone, he’s going to go right back to Ralph, and-”

“You assholes!” Noah slaps his hand against the glass, scowling, his pewter eyes furious. “You don’t get to have a whole conversation about me without me!”

Aiden hesitates. I can tell that he’s thinking hard.

“Noah used to be your friend,” I tell him softly. “You came back to Ketterbridge to help people, right? Look at him and tell me he doesn’t need help.”

Aiden glances from me to Noah and back again, then lets out a tortured sigh and releases the door. Noah shoves it open and slams it closed after himself. He glares at Aiden, the defiant look on his face slightly undercut by his beat-up state.

“You guys are such dickheads!” he snaps.

“Okay, listen,” I cut in, before Aiden can answer. “We just need to make a plan. There’s got to be some way we can get Ralph to lay off.”

“Lay off?” Noah asks, back to sulky. “He hasn’t called or texted me even once.”

“That’s intentional. He’s trying to make you guys sweat.” Aiden twists his lips to the side, clearly biting back a much harsher response. “Try to think like him for a minute, Noah. He probably thinks that if he gets you two scared enough, Jamie will take you back without him even having to do anything.”

“And when that doesn’t work?” I ask, kneading my palm, trying not to look as nervous as I feel.

“Well - then he’ll probably show up and try something,” Aiden answers.

Try something. I don’t like how broad of a term that is. That feels like it could mean anything.

“I should just go back,” Noah says, catching the look on my face. “I fucking told you, Keane, you idiot. We should get back in your shitbox and-”

Ugh! What is his problem?

“Oh my god, Noah, I’m so sorry that I don’t have a Corvette to drive you around in, complete with a complimentary pair of Chevrolet-branded sunglasses and a whole squad of goons trying to bash our heads in for taking it-”

“Alright!” Aiden glances down the stairs, then slides the door open again. “Inside, everybody. This is getting too loud. Other people live in this house.”

Noah waits for me to go in ahead of him, then darts in front of Aiden, apparently concerned about being shut out on the other side again. Aiden closes the door, pulls the curtains, and drops his bag on the desk.

“Okay, Noah,” he says. “Jamie and I, we want to help you. No, just listen for a second. I know you don’t think you need help, but that’s the whole thing with Ralph. He keeps you too fucked up to think about it. The sooner you accept that we’re the ones who are actually on your side, the easier everything is going to be.”

“I was fine over there, I just-”

“Were you?” Aiden asks, his gaze lingering pointedly on Noah’s damaged eye. Noah falls silent and turns away. He releases his bun and slips the elastic back onto his wrist. His dark hair falls around his face, half-hiding the injury there. Aiden’s irritated expression softens. “Look, man, there’s a reason that I decided to cut out Ralph. If he thinks he can manipulate you, he will. You’re not the first, and it isn’t your fault. You don’t have to live like this forever.”

There’s a moment of silence. Noah’s open eye keeps skipping between myself and Aiden like he thinks we might be playing some sort of joke on him.

“We’ll get you out, but we can only do it if you help us,” I add.

Noah blows out a long breath and touches one finger to his closed eye. Aiden watches him, his expression unreadable, then crosses to the freezer and opens it. He pulls out a few ice cubes, drops them into a Ziploc, and tosses it at Noah. He catches it, but puts it to his thumb rather than his face, leaving his hair over his eye.

“Fine.” He winces as the cold bag touches his skin. “What would you suggest?”

I let out a little breath of relief, and Aiden cracks a tiny smile, immediately replaced by a serious look.

“Okay, well.” He thinks for a moment. “You’re the one who’s been hanging out with Ralph recently. What can you tell us that might be helpful?”

Noah’s forehead wrinkles.

“I dunno. What do you mean, helpful?”

“Something that could help us come up with a plan.”

“I just don’t know what that fucking means.” Noah’s fingers tighten around the bag of ice. “He’s the same as he always was, except now he gambles and shit.”

I feel my phone vibrating in my pocket and quickly pull it out while Noah and Aiden go on talking. Raj is supposed to hit me up soon about fixes to the Ghost Office, so it’s probably him.

Unsaved Number 6:49 PM: Hi, Gabby said to send you my number since we might be working on some sort of project together soon, so here it is

Unsaved Number 6:49 PM: This is Ripley btw sorry

Unsaved Number 6:50 PM: We met at City Hall

Unsaved Number 6:50 PM: Gabby’s new intern

I take a moment to save his number and shoot back a quick text: Hey man, cool, thanks! You should send it to Aiden, too, do you have his #?😊 I can send it to you lmk!

Does Ripley think that I forgot about him, already? We only just met.

“-stupidest idea I’ve ever heard in my life,” Noah is saying, when I look back up.

“I don’t hear you coming up with anything!” Aiden fires back. The momentary calm between them has more than subsided during the thirty seconds it took for me to check my phone.

“You guys-” I begin to say, and they both whip around, glaring. “Whoa, okay, let’s take a breath-”

“What’s your idea, Keane? Do you even have one?”

“Um-” Put on the spot, I say the first thing that comes to mind: “Should we - call Ralph and nicely ask him to leave us alone? We haven't tried that, yet.”

Noah sputters out a dark laugh, while Aiden’s expression does something strange. The frustration there seems to fall away all at once. Suddenly he’s making the same face that I make when Angie texts me videos of the baby bunnies she’s fostering.

“Oh, Jamie.” His voice fills up with affection, even as Noah’s laugh dissolves into a long groan.

“Um! Okay! It was just a suggestion! If we’re not going to be nice, what are we going to do? Yell at him? Scare him? A whole crew of Cameron’s guys didn’t even unsettle him, that night when we pulled him out of the bar.”

“That’s actually true,” Aiden answers, frowning. “Ralph isn’t afraid of anything.”

“Yeah, except for you, Aiden,” Noah says.

A short silence falls over the room. Aiden and I both turn slowly to look at Noah.

“That’s right,” I realize, out loud. “You’re not a mean scary bully anymore, Aiden, but Ralph doesn’t necessarily know that. He just knows that you stopped drinking.”

Noah’s harsh laugh grates against my ears again.

“Oh, my god. Why are we all running scared when Aiden is right here?” He steps closer to Aiden and stabs a finger into his chest. “You were always the guy in charge, before you left. Ralph was one of your guys, not the other way around. He’s not scared of you right now, because he thinks you went soft while you were gone. He doesn’t think you’ll do anything to him.”

“I won’t do anything to him.”

“Duh, clearly you found Jesus or something-”

“Nope, that is not the situation.”

“Whatever! The point is, if you show him that you’re still a person to be scared of, he might fuck off.”

“But I’m not.”

“I know that, dipshit!” Noah looks ready to throw the bag of ice at Aiden’s head. “I’m saying that he doesn’t. You don’t actually have to do anything to him, just make him think that you would.” Noah’s speaking fast, on a roll. “He won’t fuck with me if he thinks you’re your old self. He won’t fuck with Keane either, for that matter. It would fix everything, and nobody actually gets hurt.”

Aiden stops, suddenly thoughtful.

“Hang on,” I cut in. “Won’t that just piss him off and make him retaliate? He’s not going to be happy about letting Aiden get the last word.”

“Yeah, well.” Noah turns to me. “Aiden’s gonna have to scare him really good. So good that he won’t dare to even try anything. But that shouldn’t be an issue, right? We both knew Aiden in high school. Do you not remember how scared of him you used to be, Keane? He’s a natural talent.”

“That’s… yeah. Yeah.” I chew my lip, anxious. “But Aiden - you shouldn’t have to do that, if it makes you uncomfortable.”

“Aiden.” Noah swivels back to look at him, his voice threaded with urgency. “You’re an even bigger guy now than you were back then. You’re intimidating as fuck without saying anything at all. All you have to do is just pretend to be your old self for one conversation.”

Aiden seems to rouse himself from the stupor he’d briefly disappeared into.

“I’m fine with it,” he says, and shrugs.

Noah and I both pause, surprised.

“Um, Noah, can you give me a minute with Aiden, please? Just go on the porch for a second.”

Noah scowls, but turns and stomps out. I wait until I hear the door click shut.

“Listen-” I double-check that the curtain is fully blocking Noah’s view, then move to Aiden and take his hand. “If this is going to make you feel uncomfortable in literally any way-”

“It’s fine, Jamie.” Aiden ruffles my hair, and my heart does a tiny flip. “I can handle it. I already sort of did it at the bar, with Cameron. And if it’ll keep you safe…” He strokes a finger down my cheek. “Anyways, I’m more concerned about whether you’re comfortable with it. This is basically the opposite of what you suggested. Not exactly a nice and friendly approach.”

“Yeah… normally I’d say that a literal toxic masculinity competition would only make things worse, but…”

My mom’s words have been guiding me ever since Noah showed up at my door, but right now, I’m thinking about what my dad said. Don’t take any shit. Ralph has already put all three of us through a lot of shit.

“Jamie?” Aiden squeezes my fingers. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”

“I’m thinking… It is Ralph that we’re talking about here. We probably need to speak his language if he’s going to get the message. So, if it doesn’t make you feel uncomfortable...”

Aiden looks a little taken aback, but he smiles.

“You’re full of surprises, Jamie,” he murmurs, which is funny, because I always feel like he’s the one surprising me. I check the curtain again, then place a soft kiss on his lips and trace my fingers down his stubbled cheek, struck out of the blue by just how much I like him. This keeps happening to me, random moments when I touch him and my very veins start on fire. He’s so sweet now, holding me so gently. So different than he was.

“It’s going to be so weird seeing mean-terrifying-monster Aiden again. Do you even remember how to be that bitchy?”

“Not a talent you can lose, darling,” he says, and winks. Just like that, I find myself laughing, even in the midst of all my nerves and distress. I press a kiss to his jaw, take a deep breath of vetiver, and step back.

“Alright, head-bitch-in-charge. What’s step one?”

Aiden straightens up, his blue eyes focused and thoughtful.

“I’ll set it up and let you know when it’s time. You and Noah both need to be there when it goes down. You might have to hold onto him for a few more days-”

“UuuuughhhHHHH-”

“Shush.” Aiden presses his finger over my mouth. “One last thing. I’m going to need a little assistance from the ghosts.”

~~~~

Noah is delighted. It’s the first smile I’ve seen him crack that wasn’t associated with a nasty laugh, and it gives him dimples.

“Fucking yes, thank god,” he moans, flopping onto the couch. “Oh, goddamn. Aiden, man.”

“Hang on, Noah. Jamie has one condition.”

“What?” He twists to glare at me. “What is it?”

“I think we should give Ralph at least one chance to do the right thing. So, I’m going to call and try to talk to him like a regular person, before we do this shit.”

Noah stares at me, then lets out a dark laugh.

“Knock yourself out. It won’t change a thing.”

I step out onto the porch. Aiden comes with me, but Noah doesn’t. He seems determined to pretend that he could care less about what Ralph has to say. I dial the number that Aiden gave me, my pulse picking up, anxiety creeping over me.

“What if he doesn’t-?”

“He will,” Aiden says.

Sure enough, the ringing cuts off. Silence greets me from the other end of the line.

“Hey, Ralph?” No answer. “It’s Jamie. I think Grant probably already told you that I’ve got Noah with me. I’m calling to ask if you could just - be cool about it and let it go?”

A long silence. Way too long. I think I can hear breathing, but nothing else.

“Look,” I press on. “He doesn’t want to come back. Can you just respect that?”

Another silence. I glance at Aiden, thinking of handing him the phone, right as an answer finally comes.

“You picked the wrong battle this time, Keane,” Ralph says, and hangs up.

I lower the phone. My fingers are shaking, and from nothing but a minute-long call. Aiden is looking at me, waiting for an answer.

“Well,” I tell him, my mouth suddenly a little dry. “Looks like it’s time to pull Scary Aiden out of retirement.”