Present day…

When Nik finally comes to, a ray of sunlight is directed right at his face, a wave of pain ripping through his head.

He sits up quickly, taking in his surroundings before his heart finally calms down. He’s in Finn's house- well, their house, he thinks.

Nik thinks he’ll never get used to saying that, too ready for this rug to be pulled out from under him. For the curtain to close, the dream to end, the luck to cease. He almost could believe he had dreamt the entire weekend if it wasn’t for the enormity of the room he was in. Nik sighs and checks his watch.

11:00 am, it reads. Nik’s eyes blow wide, mind panicking that he’s late for work. But he remembers that he’s been fired, and that’s how he ended up in this whole situation in the first place. He gets no time to reflect before his phone begins to ring, groaning as he grabs it from the charger and glances at the screen, half-expecting it to be another spam caller.

It doesn’t register that the screen says Sumi until he’s almost missed the call. He quickly flicks his thumb across the screen and brings the phone to his ear.

“Hello?” he speaks, all too aware of the way his voice cracks.

“Hey, asshole! You said you were going to call me this weekend,” is shouted into his ear at a volume he particularly doesn’t want to listen to at this hour. But… it’s his sister, so he’ll make an exception.

“Crap, sorry…” Nik mumbles, closing his eyes as the events of the weekend play over in his head. He truly did forget. “I totally forgot. It’s been hectic.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Sumi grumbles, “you say that every time.”

“I mean it this time!” Nik tries to save his ass. If Sumi complains to their mother, he’s dead meat.

“Whatever,” she mocks. “I just needed help with my math homework, but I paid off some guy to do it. I think he has a crush on me.”

Nik gasps, genuinely surprised his perfect little sister would ever do something so underhanded. “Sumi! I expect better from you!”

“Well, you weren’t there,” Nik can imagine the way she’s crossing her arms across her chest, tongue stuck out in mockery. She’s still eleven in his head. “And I refuse to get a missing assignment- mom would kill me.”

Nik nods before realizing Sumi can’t see him. “Yeah, and so would I.”

Sumi laughs and Nik hears a pen click. “So what had you so busy you couldn’t make time for your darling sister?”

Nik rolls his eyes and reaches his free hand up to his hair, taking it out from its bun. He tries to think where to start, but it all seems to blend and mix together in his head. He begins to run his hands through his hair, untangling it and soothing his racing thoughts for a moment.

“Well… I got fired.”

“Doesn’t that free up your schedule?” Sumi sounds skeptical, utterly impatient like always. A smart-ass.

“I… went to a bar, got far too drunk, and met a man who’s going to try and get me a new job,” The words all come out at once, hoping that Sumi wouldn’t ask any details. But-

“WHAT?”

Of course she would.

“You’re really going to make me elaborate?” Nik’s voice grows higher in pitch and his fingers begin to curl in his hair, looping large chunks around and around. Of all days, why did she call today?

It could be worse, he thinks. My mother could have called.

He doesn’t have time to elaborate before Sumi is shouting in his ear again, demanding he explains and tells her all the “tea.” Whatever that means.

He sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. He slowly begins to explain, from losing his job and the decision to try drinking. His plan to just get a few drinks and leave, but the bartender was so charismatic and this other man who he’d only met three days ago. The blonde man with blue eyes and a striking smile who offered him the career opportunity of a lifetime.

Breakfast, moving in, a suit- explaining it all to Sumi almost felt like he was recounting a dream, waiting for her to laugh and start trying to dissect what it all meant. His reality had turned on itself in just three days, his life suddenly seems brighter than it had been in years.

Sumi is quiet on the other end when Nik finishes, the silence settling cold and uncomfortable in his stomach. He wants to break the silence, but his tongue is suddenly dry and he can’t get the words past the lump in his throat.

“Fuck, Nikhil,” is what Sumi eventually says, and Nik is both relieved and shocked.

“Language!” he mutters, a small smile cracking across his face as he can settle into his old patterns. “Listen, I’m not even sure what really happened myself.”

“Sounds like you won the lottery!” Sumi’s voice rises in excitement. “You’re gonna be rich! Now you gotta pay for my college, and mom’s spine surgery.”

Nik chuckles, relief breaking through the ice in his heart. “Calm down, I don’t have the job yet.”

“It’s like guaranteed, though,” Sumi begins to laugh before it dies down, and she sighs. Nik wants to ask, but decides to let Sumi sift through her thoughts first. Nik ponders on his own memories; Sumi, learning how to ride a bike, bake bread, her first time at a market. Nik wants to reach through the phone and hug his sister, upset he hasn’t gotten to see her grow up past a certain age. There are always pictures, sure, but they’re never the same as the real thing.

“I miss you,” is what she finally decides on, and Nik’s heart contracts. “It’s been forever.”

“I know…” Nik agrees. “I’ll visit within the next year, I promise.”

“I’m keeping you to that Nikhil Bakshi.”