I open the door of Kent’s house to find Aiden stretched comfortably out on the couch, watching a football game. He glances over when he sees me, then sits up, a smile quirking up his lips.

“Hi,” he says.

My heart warms at the sight of him, then more so at the deep rumble of his voice.

“Hi.” I shrug out of my jacket, matching his affectionate smile. “Happy New Year’s Eve.”

I’ve felt even closer to Aiden after the days we spent together around Christmas, after he chose to be so open with me. I think he’s feeling the same way. He’s already reaching for me, and I haven’t even gotten my shoes off yet.

I go over to sit with him on the couch, press a kiss onto his jaw. “Where’s Kent?”

“He took Gabby and Ellen to the beach, to watch the fireworks.” Aiden gathers me up against him. “We have an open invite, if we want to join them later.”

“Oh, that sounds nice.” I settle down into the cozy den of Aiden’s arms. “Maybe we should. Do you want to?”

Aiden doesn’t say anything, so I turn my head to look at him. He’s frowning, his eyes a little distant. He sees me waiting for an answer, and gives his head a shake.

“Sorry - what did you say?”

I move to sit facing Aiden, tap a finger to his forehead. “Is it loud in there tonight?”

“Nah, it’s - don’t worry about it.” He smiles again, adjusting his snapback. “So - do you want to go meet up with Kent? He told me to text him if we’re coming.”

I narrow my eyes at Aiden, unconvinced. “What’s happening, babe?”

“Nothing,” he insists.

“Okay, well, I know you. So.” I nuzzle my nose into his. “You may as well just tell me what’s bothering you.”

Aiden sits back, then sighs deeply, rubbing his forehead.

“It’s just - I can hear someone who needs help. Not someone in danger,” he hastily clarifies, when he sees the look on my face. “Just someone really sad. I’ve been hearing it all day.”

“All day?” I repeat, my eyes widening. “Why didn’t you say something sooner?”

“Because…” Aiden bites his lip, frustrated. “You’re already skipping all the parties that are going on tonight, since I can’t be around that much booze, and - I knew that if I told you about this, you'd feel obligated to help. I didn’t want to make you do that, at least not tonight. I want you to have fun, not deal with something sad, and it’s our first New Years together-”

Aiden breaks off in surprise when I get to my feet.

“Come on, Guardian.” I give his hand a gentle tug. “Let’s go help.”

Aiden gets up, too, folding both of his hands around mine. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. Definitely.” I smile up at him, smoothing a chestnut strand out of his eyes. “As long as I get my kiss at midnight, I’m all good.”

Aiden returns my smile, tracing his thumb over my cheek.

“Oh, you will,” he says firmly. “No way we’re missing that.”

“It better be on time, too,” I add. "That's my one requirement."

Aiden huffs out a soft laugh. “Deal, Keane.”

His eyes pick up that ice blue shimmer as we walk to the car.

He falls silent, already listening.

~~~~

I chatter away as we drive, to help Aiden listen. But I immediately go quiet when I realize where we are.

“Oh, no,” I say, beneath my breath.

I roll my car to a stop outside of Ralph’s house, put it in park, and turn to Aiden.

“Is this where-?”

“Yeah.” Aiden’s expression darkens, and he lets out a heavy sigh. “Fuck.”

My heart plummets, a wave of icy cold rolling down my spine. “You don’t think that Ralph took Noah back again, do you?”

“No.” Aiden shakes his head, his glowing eyes casting a pale blue tint onto his cheekbones. “It doesn’t sound scared or angry, just…”

I remember what he said at Kent’s house. Just someone really sad.

I reach for Aiden’s hand. “Hey, listen - if you don’t want to go in there-”

“No, it's okay.” He blinks the magic out of his eyes, then takes a deep breath. “We’re already here, and listening to this is really, um..." He fades off, winces, and rubs his temples. "Let’s just go.”

I follow Aiden up the gravel path that leads to the house. The distant sound of small-scale fireworks ripples through the night air. There’s still some time before midnight, when the big fireworks display put on by the beachside hotel is scheduled to begin.

Only one light is on in Ralph’s house, one upstairs window glowing.

I give Aiden’s hand a gentle squeeze before I knock on the door.

We wait, and a minute slides by in silence. I glance at Aiden, who shrugs, then knocks again. His knock is much louder than mine, but there’s still no response.

“Ralph!” Aiden calls. “Open up, man! We know you’re in there!”

We give it another minute before I try the doorknob. The door swings open. I turn to look at Aiden, and see my own alarmed expression mirrored on his face.

It’s not like Ralph to leave the door unlocked.

I step inside, feel around until I find the light switch. The lights flicker on, and I blink rapidly, my eyes adjusting as I take in my surroundings.

The entryway walls are peppered with stolen, rusted road signs. There are four coat hooks on the wall by the light switch. All of them are empty, but Ralph’s jacket is crumpled up on the floor beneath them.

A faint tobacco smell hangs in the air. It’s very still in here, very quiet.

Aiden leads the way towards the stairs, following the light. We come out on the second floor, and find the door with light escaping through the cracks. I knock on it, harder than I did downstairs.

“Ralph?” I call.

Again, no answer. I wait one more minute, then try the knob. The door opens, and we step into Ralph’s bedroom.

I take only the briefest look around before my eyes catch on something, and my heart stops.

Ralph is facedown on the carpeted floor, motionless.

“Oh, my god!” I gasp. “Aiden?”

He’s already weaving around me. He goes right to Ralph, drops down by his side. With extreme care, he gently rolls Ralph onto his back. Ralph’s eyes don’t open, and his head lolls to the side.

I know that Aiden said no one was in danger, but I don’t like how completely unresponsive Ralph is. My heartbeat kicks up to a frantic, anxious pace.

“Aiden?” I ask again, my fingers pressed over my mouth.

Aiden has his fingertips just below Ralph’s jaw.

“It’s okay.” He looks up at me with relieved blue eyes. “He’s just passed out.”

“Jesus Christ.” I sag back against the wall, taking a long breath. “That was terrifying.”

“Yep, and here’s the culprit,” Aiden says, tossing me a near-empty bottle of Hendrick's.

I catch it, and quickly drop it in the trash can by the door.

Aiden moves behind Ralph’s head, hooks him beneath his armpits. “Can you help me?”

I rush over to help Aiden maneuver Ralph onto the couch against the far wall of his bedroom. His foot bumps into the coffee table when we set him down, and he makes a face, his nose wrinkling.

A sign of life, thank god. I take a look at him as we lay him out on the couch. There’s no blue tinge to his skin, no extreme pauses between each breath he takes. Probably not alcohol poisoning, then. I guess that Aiden would hear it, if it was.

When we’ve got Ralph situated, Aiden drops to a crouch next to him, and gives his shoulder a shake.

“Ralph. Get up.”

Ralph lets out a low groan, keeping his eyes closed. He runs a hand through his white-blonde hair, then seizes Aiden’s wrist, gripping it tightly.

“Noah?” he mumbles, his voice thick with alcohol. “D’you come back?”

“Nope.” Aiden gives his arm a pinch. “Try again.”

A confused crease appears between Ralph’s eyebrows. Very slowly, he blinks his eyes open.

His gaze roves over Aiden, then flits to me. He sits up unsteadily on the couch, runs a hand over his mouth.

“Am I really seeing this?” he asks.

“Are you alright?” I jump in, trying and failing not to sound as concerned as I am. “Did you - take anything that we need to worry about?”

Ralph doesn’t answer, and Aiden turns to look at the coffee table. It’s empty, aside from a bundle of pale green powder in clear plastic wrap. Aiden takes a closer look at it, then turns back to Ralph, his eyes widening in alarm.

“Jesus, Ralph!” He points to the bundle, holding Ralph up by his shirt with his other hand. “That shit looks like poison! Why is it that color? What did you cut it with, dishwasher detergent?”

“Relax,” Ralph mumbles, slurring every word. “I haven’t taken anything, and I sure as shit haven’t touched that. I heard some other plug was dealing it, and it was making people sick. I bought him out, so that he wouldn’t sell more of it. I’m gonna get rid of it, just haven’t had the time.”

Aiden looks up at me, startled. I stare back at him, equally thrown by Ralph’s explanation.

I would normally assume that Ralph is lying, but he’s so disoriented right now, barely even awake. I almost don’t think that he could lie to us if he tried.

Then again. This doesn’t sound like something Ralph would do, and he routinely proves himself to be a better liar than we give him credit for.

I glance around, hoping for answers. My eyes land on a nearby cabinet.

Ralph doesn’t let people into his bedroom when they buy from him. The living room is also the waiting room, according to Angie. But it looks like he keeps what he sells in here, laid out neatly and in precise order.

It strikes me as dumb to keep it out like this, but upon closer inspection, I realize that this is a false cabinet shelf. It's sitting open, and I suspect that closing it would hide the stash away completely. I wonder if there are more secret spots like this around here.

I see blue MDMA tablets, microdots, dime bags of green, bigger bags of shrooms. Everything is in its own bag, and the bags are organized into jars, which are neatly labeled in Ralph’s handwriting. Very specific, coded labels. PG, I see on the microdots, which I assume means pharmaceutical-grade.

Yeah, Ralph keeps himself extremely organized. I doubt that the clunky, saran-wrapped package of poison on the coffee table is something he was planning to sell. And it doesn’t look like it’s been opened, so I doubt that Ralph sampled it.

“I think we’re okay,” I quietly tell Aiden, who nods, getting to his feet.

“I’m gonna go see if there’s any coffee downstairs.”

“Let me do it,” I whisper back. “Ralph probably keeps a lot of booze down there-”

“I’ve got it,” Aiden murmurs, and gives my hand a covert squeeze before he goes.

I look down at Ralph, who is still struggling to get his bearings. He looks thin and worn out, tired purple circles bruising the skin around his eyes.

He’s a whole lot less intimidating without his pack of feral friends at his back. He actually looks a bit - fragile, almost.

He feels around in his pockets until he extracts a half-crushed pack of cigs. He lights one up, then sits back, eyeing me warily.

“You want to go downstairs?” I suggest. “Some fresh air might help you feel better.”

Ralph scowls at me, but he knows that I’m right. He slowly gets to his feet, elbowing me away when I offer a hand to help him.

I hover behind him on the stairs, watching in case he falls. He somehow manages to make it all the way to the porch without incident, trailing smoke in his wake.

He sits down on the porch steps, then blinks in surprise when I sit down next to him.

The popping sounds of distant fireworks come from town, but the big display hasn’t gone off yet. Ralph stares out at the skyline, smoking slowly, avoiding my eyes. Aiden joins us, sits down on the other side of Ralph. He offers Ralph a mug of coffee.

Ralph begrudgingly accepts it, takes a long sip, and sets it aside. Then he puts his head on his knees.

“The fuck do you two want?” He doesn’t lift his head to talk to us, so his voice is muffled, hard to understand. “I haven’t gone after Noah, alright? If he said I did, he’s a fuckin’ liar. I haven’t been anywhere near him.”

“We came here because we were worried about you, not Noah,” I tell Ralph.

Aiden winces, which tells me that this was the wrong thing to say. Ralph lifts his head sharply, staring daggers at me.

“I don’t need you or anyone else to worry about me, alright?” he snaps.

“Oh, yeah?” Aiden cuts in. “Then why’d we find you alone, knocked out on the floor, spooning with an empty bottle of gin? You’ve hit rock bottom, dude.”

Ralph’s eyes flash with dark rage. “Fuck you, Aiden!”

“Relax.” Aiden slaps a hand onto his back. “It’s a good thing, man.”

“Oh, is it?” Ralph shrugs him off immediately. “Just how the fuck-?”

“Because,” Aiden says, still perfectly calm, “Once you hit rock bottom, you have nowhere to go but up. Believe me, I’ve been there. Hung out there for way longer than I should have, honestly. But you can come back from it. It actually might give you some clarity about some important stuff.”

Ralph stares at Aiden in silence, his jaw tightly clenched. He looks like he’s struggling for an answer, which is a rare thing to see Ralph doing, even if he’s fucked up.

But he doesn’t end up saying anything. He only drops his head back onto his knees.

A long silence passes, and then Ralph suddenly slumps into me. I’m completely unprepared, but I manage to catch him before he can hit his head on the porch.

“He passed out again,” says Aiden, who has a better angle on Ralph’s face.

“Shit.” I snatch the cig from between his fingers, stub it out. “Should we get him up?”

Aiden considers, then shakes his head. “Nah. He needs to sleep it off, I think.”

I hesitate, then blurt out what I’m thinking.

“I don’t think we should leave him alone, Aiden. I know you won’t like this idea, but I think we need to bring him-”

“No, you’re right,” Aiden rumbles. “Let’s take him back to my place.”

I stare at him, caught by surprise. Aiden shrugs as he gets to his feet.

“I’ve left Ralph knocked out on the floor before now. Once, a long time ago. I’ve always felt bad about it, so. Not gonna do it again.”

I give Aiden a warm smile, then let out a relieved noise when he bends down to get Ralph off of me. He slings Ralph over his shoulder like a ragdoll, wraps one arm around him to hold him in place.

By the time I retrieve Ralph’s jacket, turn off the lights, and lock up his house, Aiden is already at the car.

I hurry over to help Aiden get Ralph into the backseat. Together, we manage to turn him on his side, and Aiden straps him in. I spread his jacket on top of him, then startle as a loud, booming sound echoes through the night.

Aiden and I both straighten up on opposite sides of the car. We turn to look at the skyline, just in time to see a shower of glittering lights fill the sky.

The fireworks display has begun, which means it’s midnight.

“Oh, shit!” Aiden yells, and races around the car to me.

Before I can say a word, he sweeps me off of my feet and up into his arms. I laugh, seizing hold of his jacket, and find myself cut off by a long, sweet, enthusiastic kiss.

I’m speechless by the time Aiden sets me down again. I blink up at him, watch the reflections of the fireworks in his eyes.

He lets go of me, shoves back his sleeve, and checks his watch. It’s still midnight, but it goes to 12:01 as we look down at it.

“Jesus!” Aiden lets out a relieved laugh. “That was fucking close!”

I laugh again, snuggling into him.

We stand there together for a minute, watching the fireworks show reach its height, before we take our soul in need back to the Guardian’s place.