— Good morning, sunshine! — the bright light outside suddenly entered Moon’s vision, burning his eyes a little. — It’s almost noon and my dear friend, my dear partner is still asleep. Thank you for making me delay the opening of the bakery.

— You’re either mad or grateful, Ace… You can’t be both. — she muttered, her face still under the covers.

— Well, somehow I needed a break, so, yeah, thanks. Now, what are we having for lunch?

— Lunch? — Moon slowly pulled back the blanket.

— Moon, it’s noon. I’m starving. Aren’t you?

— Noon? — she looked for her cell phone, finding it between the sheets. — Oh, shit…

— How come you overslept today when you’ve been having trouble sleeping lately? — Ace crossed his arms as he studied not only her face but also the room. — Wait… you…? — he quickly walked over to the bed, holding her head with both hands and turning it from side to side. — Hm, no marks…

Moon looked at him blankly.

— Nothing happened, relax.

— So you slept with him! — Ace covered his mouth, making a shocked face. — I knew it! You can’t deny it, Moon, I was right. We can’t escape our destiny.

The young woman raised her middle finger.

— You’re buying lunch today, asshole. — she said as she stood up and looked for clean clothes. — By the way, where’s my brother?

— He was chatting with Josiah in the HQ…

— And that idiot Griffin?

— Wounded. — Ace replied. — But your brother did a good job… Why did Will went so hard?

— Josiah told me that Will’s daughter was ignored by his partner… he mistreated her all the time. Until one day he abused her. Then she committed suicide. Will is a good person, he just needs therapy… — Moon laughs.

— Shit!

— Where is he?

— Do you miss him already? — Ace laughed. — I’m kidding… I passed by him on the way here. He told me you needed a shoulder to lean on today. It should be him, not me…

— Throwing me away, already? What a nice friend you are.

— Never! — Ace shouted as he hugged her. — I love you, Moon. But I’m getting tired and equally annoyed at seeing you running away from him…

— You’re not the first person to tell me that… I get it…

Ace smiled and sat at the kitchen table, waiting for her to join in for breakfast. Until he saw a large box on the floor.

— What’s this? — he approached and carefully opened the box. — Is it a photo album?

— It’s my birthday present from when we left Berkshire… Take a look. I was a very cute child…

— I doubt it… — he laughed out loud, turning the pages carefully and laughing at some of the photos.

Ace suddenly became quiet as he stared intensely at a photo near the end of the album.

— Moon… Did you get to see all the photos?

— No, why?

— Come here… Look at this. Look who’s here…

The young woman walked lazily towards him and sat down on the sofa next to him. She took the album from his hands and put it on her lap, looking at some of the familiar faces in the photo.

— Who’s in it? These are my father and mother… Gun and-

— And that’s that woman. That old witch…

— Patricia…

After seeing, in an old family photo, the witch who was not only helping Caelan, but was also after his brother, Moon couldn’t sit still. She immediately took a photo and sent it to Hux, asking him to look into this surprising connection between her and her family.

Ace had to open the pastry shop for an order and left Moon home alone. She stayed at home all day, trying to figure out what the connection was, and waiting for any contact from Hux with an answer.

At around seven o’clock in the evening, Gray returned to Moon’s hut with a pizza box in his hands. The man stopped at the door, feeling as if he needed permission to enter. Gray was hesitant to enter, so he slowly opened the door.

Moon was sitting at the wooden table, staring at something in front of her, biting her finger. Gray smiled unconsciously as he walked over to her, putting down the pizza box and going to her side, leaning over while one of his hands supported him on the table and the other was on the back of her chair.

— What are you looking at? — he looked in the same direction as her, surprised by the photo album. — Ah… Gunner’s present for you, huh? He asked me to help him find a place to develop the photos…

— Hm… — she replied.

— Why are you looking at that? — he asked, leaning his head on hers. — Do you miss your parents?

— I don’t know… They’re probably not even my biological parents… — Moon replied, not noticing how close he was. — Do you recognize this woman? — she puts her finger right where Patricia is.

— Why is she in this picture? Was she a friend of your family?

— That’s what it looks like… I mean… — Moon tilted her head, stopping biting her finger and now tapping the wooden table. — When I was inside your mind, looking for you, I ended up somewhere else… Through a portal…

— A portal? Inside my mind? — Gray asked her in confusion, his hand now resting on the side of her head.

— Forget it, it’s not important now… I found her there… and she called my grandmother an idiot. I thought that maybe she only knew her because of her name, I never thought…

— They really knew each other. She seems close to your family… I’ll take a photo of it and ask Casey to look into it… — he smiled tenderly at her. — But… Why are you worried about this?

Moon looked up, meeting his eyes.

He no longer looked as haggard as when he first arrived in Mendraria, even though he needed a haircut and a shave. Moon now noticed that the tattoo he had wasn’t just on his chest, but went up to a part of his neck.

— Is there something on my face? Or are you just admiring how handsome I am?

Moon laughed.

— Why are you even here? — she said smiling and then stood up, pushing him away.

— I’ve been staying here since I arrived in town. This is your place… Where else would I stay?

— I don’t know… Ace’s place? — she said as if it were the most obvious answer.

— We both know Ace wouldn’t let me stay there… And Gus is there.

— With Griffin, then?

— He’s with his brother.

— I think it would be better if I stayed with Ace, and Gus could stay here with you…

— As if I’m going to let you be alone with Ace… — Gray hissed, getting angry at the mere thought of it.

— As if we’ve never been alone together before… — she replied, teasing.

For some reason, teasing Gray was fun.

But perhaps, this time, it was too much.

Gray remained quiet, clenching his jaw, but saying nothing. Moon watched silently as he breathed heavily, hands on his hips as he opened and closed his eyes, over and over again.

— We’re meant to be together, but we’re not close enough for me to touch you… And I don’t have the right to be jealous either, do I? — he asked, but noticing that she hadn’t answered, he continued. — I brought us pizza to eat, because I know you like it, but I shouldn’t have done that. Eat up. Call Ace, Gus, your brother or whoever is close to you. I’ll find a place to sleep while I’m in Mendraria… Away from you, just the way you want it.

— What?

— You always make it clear that you don’t want me around, but I keep insisting otherwise. Now I understand. So don’t worry, I’m leaving…

— Gray, I… — Moon took a step forward, but stopped when he raised his hand.

— No. I’m at my limit here… I’m holding back, so please don’t come near me. I don’t want to make any more mistakes… — Gray then left, without looking at her or saying anything else.

Moon leaned on the wall behind her, crossing her arms and sighing heavily as she stared at the closed door. “Limit? Holding back? You don’t know anything, Gray…”, she closed her eyes as she threw herself on the floor and hid her face between her knees.

She fucked up again.

Moon reached into her pants pocket for her cell phone and dialed her friend’s number.

— Help me… I fucked up…

On the other end of the line, Ace took the phone away from his ear and looked at the name on the screen, making sure it was really his friend; Moon wasn’t the type to call. But it was her. So why wasn’t she making sense?

— Are you drunk?

“No!”

— Okay… So, what happened?

“I fucked up…”

— I get that. What did you do? — Ace asked as he searched for some extra pillows for himself, since he had given his own to the new tenant.

Although Gus had made it clear that he could stay on the sofa with the pillows, Ace knew it wouldn’t be comfortable. So, while he talked to Moon and tried to understand what had happened, he prepared a bed for Gus on the floor, trying to make it as comfortable as possible.

“I… I think I hurt him…”

— Who?

“Gray… Who else?”

— Ah, your great love… Now I understand why he and Griffin are getting drunk on my balcony while Gus and Gunner are snacking in my kitchen…

“They’re what?”

— I can see… — Ace looked at the pair from afar. — About ten empty beer cans. There’s a lot more in the fridge.

Moon didn’t know what to say and stayed quiet on the other side.

— My dear friend… Lock your doors if you don’t want to deal with a drunken Gray… But, in my opinion, the right thing for you to do is to come here, pick him up and take him back with you. And do it quickly, I want to rest…

Ace ended the call and hung up the phone, feeling too exhausted to deal with anything. He went into the kitchen and faced Gunner.

— Are you going to help me with your new boyfriend? Or would you rather owe me a HUGE favor?

— Why are you angry? — Gunner’s voice was low.

— Because the Bexley brothers have no idea how to deal with their lives on their own and I’m always getting involved. I swear to Goddess, Gunner, if you and your sister don’t make up with those two in, I don’t know, two days, I’m leaving. For good. You’ll never see me again.

— I’m going… — Gunner quickly grabbed his coat and put it on.

— Well done, father! — Gus raised his fingers in approval. — I’m going to tidy up the balcony to help you…

— You don’t have to be angry or upset with us anymore… I’ll… take him back to the cabin I was given earlier… Just don’t leave… — the younger man’s eyes were watering at the thought of losing the only real friend he and his sister had.

Ace watched intently as Gunner walked quickly over to where Griffin was and did his best to get the guy out of there.

— Tsk… — Ace clucked his tongue. — If I’d known this kind of threat would work, I’d have used it a long time ago…

— As if you would ever leave Moon… — Gus comments. — You’re family to them… if you leave, they’ll come after you…

Ace shakes his head.

— My Goddess, I need a vacation. Away from these people… — he sighed deeply. — Trento… Trento is a good idea…