“Is your face ok”. Blade asks when we get back to my place. He throws his jacket on the hook and takes off his beanie. 

“Um yeah it should be fine”. I say 

Blade’s face suddenly becomes very concerned. “My god you're bleeding”. He says moving my face into the light to show my burst lip. The blood still hasn’t stopped spilling out. 

“You don’t want it to get infected”. He says going into the kitchen and opening the cabinets. “Do you have a first aid kit?”

“Really I'm fine”. I protest sitting on the bench. I have this weird thing of hating when people take care of me. Like when I was seven and broke my leg I was so scared of being a nuisance to the nurses that I learned all about how to treat broken legs so there was hardly anything for them to do. 

“Here it is”. Blade calls, pulling a first aid box from the cabinet. 

He sets it down next to me and ruffles through it. He pulls out an ice pack and begins to shake it. 

“So you and Jessica”. I say smugly. 

“Really. You want to do this here” he says. 

“Hey if you insist on playing doctor then it should be as awkward for you as it is for me”. I reply 

“Oh really”. He says wrapping the cold icepak in tissues that keep slipping off. “And why is it awkward for you”?

“Because I hate it when people take care of me”. I say. “I don’t like being a nuisance”. 

Blade stops what he’s doing and looks up at me. “Don’t worry about that. I’m helping you because I want to. We’re friends”.  He smiles and the other Blade is here for just a moment. “Why do you worry about that so much anyways”? 

“Um i guess because my grandmother had to take care of me when that wasn’t her job. I just feel guilty. Like somehow I'll ruin everything for her or I already have”. 

Blade smiles at me sympathetically. He runs the ice pack down cold water, then gives it to me to hold against my face. “I get that. No in the same way but I do. No one should have to grow up without two parents. But it was a bit easier for my brother and I. Guys understand guy needs. My dad got what it meant to be a boy.  But Luna. None of us know how to raise a girl. The other day she asked for hair glitter. We don’t know what that stuff is or whether a five year old girl should have it. I’m just really worried about her missing out on stuff.”  

I smile. “Luna really loves you. And I can tell you love her back. So you guys will figure it out.” 

Blade moves closer to me and dabs  some anti infectant on my lips. “Ow” I shriek. 

“Are you serious? You were completely fine when Maddie was rearranging your face but you don’t like anti infection. You make no sense”. Blade laughs. 

I want to ask him something. But I'm scared of the answer. “Did you really dump Jessica because she was a  Redwood girl? I mean do you hate us that much”. Blade looks at me.

 He sighs. “No. I mean yes i don’t like Redwood girls very much but that’s not why I dumped her. Jessica and I weren’t compatible. We had nothing in common and she didn't really care about me. I saw her moving as an excuse for a clean breakup. I just didn’t feel for her the way”.

  He stops talking. Like he had saved himself from saying something bad. “The way what”. I prompt. Blade clears his throat, tilts my chin up and dabbs my lips with the stinging serum again. “The way you should feel for a girlfriend i guess”. He says. “Anyways i’m sorry I didn’t realise you were actually stressing about that”. He says placing a tiny bandage on my lip.  He avoids eye contact with me as he cleans up the rubbish.  I get the feeling that he doesn't talk about this stuff much. 

“Hey what do you think Maria meant when she told Tasmin that not everyone will go down that far”. I ask,  trying to change the subject. 

“She could have meant that by being an adult she would get in more trouble. If they convict her in the right context the court might even say charge her with child labour. Judges are slightly more lenient with kids dealing drugs”. Blade suggests sitting next to me on the couch in the living room. 

“That makes sense, but it seems like there’s more to it than that. Do you think it's possible that she had something to do with Rachel's disappearance”. I ask 

Blade considers this for a moment. “Well she would have been alive back then, she has ties to Redwood, but we don’t know if she ever went there or knew Rachel”. 

Suddenly a thought occurred to me. “Wait what if they were lying”. 

“What do you mean”? Blade asks. 

“What if what they told us weren’t the reason Rachel's secret gets passed down? What if they lied?” 

Blade thinks for a minute. “Why would they lie though”? 

“Let's look at the facts, We know that the snake charmers were there the night of Rachel's Disappearance but they never specified that they were just selling drugs”. 

Blade's eyes light up as he realises what i’m getting at. “Rachel was a goody girl. What if she was going to rat them out? So they killed her”. 

“That would make perfect sense,” I decide. “I have the number of an old Snake Charmer so we should pay her a visit tomorrow”. 

“That's a great idea”. Blade says taking off his shoes and reaching for the remote. “And until then we should watch a movie”. 

“Fine but nothing with drugs, gangs or violence i’ve had enough of that for tonight”. I say curling against the couch. 

“That just leaves Rom-coms you big softie”. Blade says, knocking his knee against mine.

“Well do you want to watch Grey's Anatomy, maybe you could provide professional commentary seeing how good a doctor you are”. I say gesturing to my face. 

“Hm well i thought  it was a good job”. Blade sniffs jokingly 

“Yeah, so was getting us into that mess. You and your showing up at my house”. I reply 

“No you and your lock picking abilities”. Blade responds 

“You and your extravaganza”. I say 

“No You and your silver tongue” Blade says 

I realise that with every remark we had edged closer together. Our faces are now so close that I can hear his breath. 

He swallows. “That silver tongue that convinced me to join the Hell trip that is Rachel's final days”. He says, showing me the other Blade.  

“You know i gotta say” I begin leaning against the head of the couch as Blade does the same. “Out of all the creative nicknames that you’ve given me, Silver tongue is by far my favourite”. 

“Really”. Blade says sleepily “Maybe I'll call you Silver from now on”. 

“Maybe you should”. I respond smiling. “I’m glad we’re working on this together”. I say. 

Blade smiles. “Me too Silver. Me too”.