Rion came over to the Murphy home after supper. He was full of nervous energy and couldn’t stop fidgeting until he was on their front step. He sucked in a sharp breath before ringing the doorbell.

Noa answered not a second after Rion pulled his hand back. This time, Noa didn’t wait to throw his arms around Rion and pull him into a tight hug. Rion winced a little, partly in surprise and partly because of his old bruises, but he was more than happy to hug Noa back, leaning into him.

“Are you okay?” Noa asked him.

Rion’s chest suddenly felt tight. He worried about what Peter might have told Noa. This was a completely different greeting from the last time they'd seen each other.

“I’m okay,” Rion said. “Are you?”

“Yes,” Noa said.

They pulled apart. Noa looked him over, studying him critically. Rion offered him a tiny smile.

“Hey, Rion,” Peter said as he came to join them in the entrance. “Come on in. It’s good to see you.”

“Yeah. Same,” Rion said.

“Let’s go,” Noa said.

“Go?” Rion said as he stepped inside, closing the door behind himself.

“Yes. To my room,” Noa told him, pointing up the nearby stairs.

“Shouldn’t I say hi to your aunt and uncle first?” Rion said and turned to Peter. “They’re home, right?”

“Yeah, they’re here in the living room,” Peter said. “Noa, give him some breathing room. Let him get comfortable.”

Noa stared at Peter while he spoke but the second he was done, Noa focused his attention back on Rion. “I drew you some pictures. Did you reread the comic yet?”

“Ah…no,” Rion admitted. “Sorry.”

He glanced between Peter and Noa, feeling awkward at how focused Noa was. It wasn’t that he disliked the attention but he wished Noa wouldn’t shrug Peter off like that.

“That’s okay,” Noa said. “Do you still play games? Do you have a GBA?”

“Uh, yeah. But I didn’t bring it with me,” Rion said.

“Do you play Pokémon? I have Ruby and Peter has Sapphire.”

“Oh, yeah. I have Ruby too.”

“We should play together some time. We could battle or trade…”

“Noa,” Peter cut in. “Let Rion come inside and get comfortable. I know you’re excited, but please.”

Noa pursed his lips. “Fine.”

Rion smiled sheepishly as they shuffled into the living room. Mr. and Mrs. Murphy were there and they smiled and waved from their seats. It seemed like the family was relaxing after supper.

“Hi, Rion,” Mrs. Murphy said. “It’s good to see you. Did you want anything to eat or drink?”

“Ah… I don’t know…” he shrugged. “I think I’m good.”

“Coffee?” Peter asked.

Rion stared at him for a beat too long. Most people didn’t offer teenagers coffee. He was caught off guard. And then he couldn’t refuse, since it was something that people didn’t normally ask. He felt compelled to say yes.

“You know, sure,” he said.

“Cream? Sugar?” Peter said.

“Yeah to both. Sounds good. Thanks.”

“Noa? Did you want anything?” Peter added.

“Tea,” Noa said.

“What kind?”

“Earl Grey.”

“Hot?”

Noa gave Peter a flat look. “Yes. Hot. Obviously.”

“Come on. You like Star Trek,” Peter said.

Noa rolled his eyes and Rion smiled. They’d watched their share of Star Trek as kids. Peter was always way more into it than they were. Still, Rion sometimes put on TV and watched old reruns or the occasional random episode of Enterprise on the Space channel.

“Fine, fine,” Peter said, giving up on trying to engage Noa since he wasn’t having it. “So, coffee and Earl Grey. How about you, Mom? Dad?”

“I’m good,” Mrs. Murphy said.

“Same here. Thanks, Peter,” Mr. Murphy added.

“Be right back,” Peter said, slipping out.

“We can go up to my room now,” Noa said the second Peter was gone.

“You’re not going to visit?” Mrs. Murphy asked.

“The GameCube is down here,” Mr. Murphy said. “You guys could play some Mario Kart.”

“We’ll come back later,” Noa said.

Noa waved Rion along as he turned and left. Rion felt a little bad leaving the Murphys behind. He gave them an apologetic smile and a wave.

“I guess we’ll be back in a bit,” Rion said.

He hurried to catch up with Noa, who was already headed upstairs. He followed him, only hesitating at the top when he could see the door to Amber’s room. Noa stopped, turning to Rion.

“Don’t look at it,” he said in a low voice. “It’s fine. Probably. It’s been quiet today.”

That wasn’t reassuring.

The way Noa talked made it sound like Amber’s ghost visited her old room. Rion wondered if it was true or if Noa was imagining things. Rion heard and felt things sometimes, usually when he was alone for too long. It seemed real even though Rion knew it couldn’t be, and he wondered if Noa went through the same thing. It sounded like he did.

It was hard to tear his eyes away from Amber’s door. The hairs on the back of his neck were standing on end and his palms were sweating. Rion forced his gaze down, his heart in his throat as he followed Noa into his room.

“How do you get by her door every day?” Rion asked as Noa partially closed the door behind them.

“Sometimes I can’t,” Noa said. “Here.”

He went and grabbed some sketches from his nightstand and held them out to Rion, who accepted them and looked through them. It took him a second to focus, but he was relieved by the distraction. He didn’t want to think about Amber, though the thought weighed heavy in the back of his mind.

The first couple pictures were of their characters from the comic. Rion couldn’t help but smile. Noa had vastly improved his art skills and the characters seemed more vibrant, and… Really, this was on the level of a professional artist. It was amazing how far he’d come. Noa must have been practicing this entire time.

Rion’s character was Ace, a human warrior. He was cool and handsome, dark haired and sharp eyed. He was drawn as if he was pulled straight from Rion’s imagination. Noa’s character, on the other hand, was an attractive elf healer called Solace. He had big hazel eyes and long blue hair that was pulled back in a braid, wearing sweeping green robes.

But those weren’t the only drawings. The last one was one of Rion himself. He recognized it from a picture that had been taken when he was younger. Noa must have used it as a reference.

It was of Rion playing the piano, looking intense and focused.

“Oh… Oh, wow…” he said, caught off guard. “This is…”

“I liked listening to you practice,” Noa said. “You were really good. Do you still play?”

“No,” Rion said. He smiled bitterly. “We don’t even have Mom’s piano anymore. My dad… I stopped playing and my uncle wanted it.   He plays for an orchestra, you know? And he used to be really close to Mom, so… Dad let him have it.”

“Oh…” Noa said, looking down. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Rion said. “This is a really good drawing. They’re all amazing. Like, I’m really impressed. Thank you.”

“I’m glad,” Noa said, almost smiling for a moment.

But then Noa’s expression became flat and somber. He sat down on his bed and looked up at Rion, focused.

“We need to talk,” Noa said. “Peter told me you lied about your friendship bracelet and Sarina’s hurting you because of it. Is that true?”

“Yeah,” Rion said. “That’s true.”

He carefully sat down on the chair at Noa’s desk, keeping a grip on the drawings. Was this why Noa wanted to get him in his room? Did he want privacy to talk? It made sense and Rion could empathize. He wanted to talk to Noa in private too. They had a lot of catching up to do. Of course, he wasn’t sure this was what he wanted to talk about…

“Why did you lie?” Noa asked, frowning. He looked hurt to Rion, his expression stiff, blank, and intense. “You should have told everyone that it was me.”

“No! No, I couldn’t,” Rion said. “You… It wasn’t that simple. Sarina confronted me in front of everyone and they were all so upset… I didn’t want anyone to get mad at you.”

“Why not?” Noa said. “I deserve it. I’m the one who wrecked my bracelet.”

“No, Noa,” Rion said. “You didn’t even want me around back then. I couldn’t just pin everything on you, and… You didn’t see how they reacted. It was really hard and you…you needed time and space, and… I don’t mind that they were upset with me. It was for the best.”

“No. It wasn’t,” Noa said. “Sarina…she hurt you?”

Rion shifted self-consciously. He didn’t want to answer, but he wasn’t about to keep the truth from Noa. There weren’t any secrets between them.

“Yes,” Rion said. “But it’s not that bad. I’m fine.”

“Nothing’s ‘fine’ about Sarina hurting you,” Noa said, his voice rising. “No one should hurt you. Ever.”

“In a perfect world, I would agree with you. But I deserve it,” Rion said. “After everything that happened and what I did…”

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Noa said. “The only mistake you made was trying to help me. You tried to protect me. That’s not bad or wrong. You’re a good person.”

“I’m not. I’m really, really not,” Rion said bitterly. It was painful to hear Noa talk about him like that, after everything they’d been through. A good person… “Listen, this was for the best. It’s all coming apart now, but… Maybe they won’t be upset with you. Peter and Danny made it seem like I might be forgiven, so you should be too.”

“I don’t want to be forgiven,” Noa said.

Rion took a breath to argue but there were footsteps in the hall. His mouth snapped shut and he turned quickly. There was a soft, “Hello” and then Peter peeked in, a steaming mug in each hand.

“You really couldn’t stop yourselves from running up here and hiding away?” Peter asked.

He looked between them. Rion couldn’t help but feel paranoid, wondering if Peter heard anything they were saying. He hoped not.

“Noa wanted to give me some pictures he drew,” Rion said, lifting them up.

“Oh,” Peter said, passing him his coffee and Noa his tea. “Well, I hope you guys will come down at some point. We could play some GameCube or something. We could show you how things are coming along with our Animal Crossing and you could maybe give us pointers, Rion… You don’t have to stay up here the whole time.”

“Honestly, it’s been a while since I’ve hung around Noa’s room,” Rion said. “It’s kind of nostalgic.”

“I guess that’s fair,” Peter said, glancing between them. “Actually, I wanted to talk to you about some stuff, Rion.”

“You did?” Rion said, blowing on his coffee and taking a sip. It was perfect. “What about?”

“A few things,” Peter said. “Bad news first before I start, I guess… I told Jesse and Celeste about the bracelets.”

Rion cringed. Well, at least Peter had implied he might tell the others during their last conversation with Danny. Rion hated it but he couldn’t feel betrayed. At least he’d been prepared for it.

That didn’t mean he liked it.

“They know I wrecked my bracelet?” Noa asked.

“Yes,” Peter said. “They know. Celeste is going to tell Sarina.”

“No!” Rion said, jolting so hard he nearly spilt his coffee. “Why? Peter–!”

“It needs to happen. She deserves to know,” Peter said, crossing his arms. “You’re not going to make me feel bad about it.”

“If she comes after Noa…” Rion began.

“We’ll take care of her,” Peter said. “I had a long talk with Danny, Jesse, and Celeste. We’re in this together. We’re going to help work all of this out. I know you don’t like it, but we’re determined to help.”

Rion grimaced and stared down into his coffee. He was gripping the mug too hard. His hands were shaking but he couldn’t tell if it was because of the intense grip, the heat, or his flaring emotions.

He didn’t want Sarina to know. He didn’t want to see how she would react. He didn’t want her to do anything different from what she was doing.

Yes, her attacks hurt. But he deserved it. He didn’t want her to become unpredictable and hurt him worse or change targets and go after Noa…

“Good,” Noa said.

“Good?” Rion repeated, looking up at him incredulously.

Noa nodded. “I think it’s good. Sarina can be mad at me now. I wrecked my bracelet so it makes sense.”

“That is not okay,” Rion said to him.

“She’s not touching you,” Peter said to Noa. “Listen, we’re putting a lot of work into stopping any more violence. If Sarina acts up, we’re calling the police.”

“What?” Rion said, whipping his head around. “No… Listen, that’s not–”

“She could kill you,” Peter said sternly, leaving no room for argument. “And even if it was an accident, I couldn’t live with that.”

Rion opened his mouth and then closed it tight. The words died on his tongue.

Die. He could die.

Rion had never thought of it that way before. He’d never thought about what would happen if Sarina took things too far.

“It’s that bad?” Noa said, eyes darting between them.

“Yes,” Peter said. “It’s that bad. You should see Rion’s bruises.”

Rion shot him a dirty look. “I know it’s healing, but everyone’s seen my black eye.”

“I’m talking about what you’re hiding under that shirt,” Peter said. “If Sarina and her friends treated anyone else the way they treat you, what would you do, Rion? You wouldn’t shrug it off and say that it’s fine, would you?”

“No,” Rion ground out.

“Good. So let us help you,” Peter said.

“I… Fine,” Rion said. “Whatever. If you’re not going to get off my back about it, then fine.”

“I want to help too,” Noa said.

Peter flashed him a smile. “I was hoping you would say that… We all wanted to get together and hang out with you, Rion. We talked about some dates. This weekend will work, but if not, there’s some days next week. Maybe not Monday, if Noa’s joining us. He has appointments on Mondays.”

“Tomorrow morning,” Rion said challengingly, hoping that the short notice would be a problem.

“Tomorrow morning it is,” Peter said to his dismay. “Thanks for agreeing.”

Rion huffed and took a long sip of coffee. “So that was all you wanted to ask me?”

“Not exactly,” Peter said. “I have a suggestion.”

Well, a suggestion was better than a demand. Rion shrugged.

“Okay. What is it?”

“I think it would be a good idea to consider seeing someone; like a psychiatrist,” Peter said.

That was not at all what Rion thought Peter might say. He stared at him for a long time, blinking.

“You think I should…what?” he repeated.

“Noa’s been seeing doctors since he came to stay with us,” Peter said, “but you haven’t seen anyone, have you? I think you should consider it. I don’t mind talking to your dad for you, if you’re worried about what he might say or think.”

“You think I’m crazy?” Rion asked.

“No. I think you need help. Like Noa,” Peter said. “Do you think he’s crazy?”

“No. Never,” Rion said.

“Sometimes I feel crazy,” Noa spoke up.

They both turned at the unexpected remark.

“…Noa?” Peter said.

Noa opened his mouth then closed it, narrowing his eyes. He took a minute to respond, considering his words.

“I like Dr. Maes,” he finally said. “It can be hard to find a doctor that you feel okay about and sometimes nothing works. I know there are things wrong with me, but I don’t want to talk about it. It can feel gross and scary. So…psychiatry can be good or bad.”

Peter was looking stunned, like he hadn’t heard his cousin speak that much in years. The topic was a pretty serious one too and, honestly, it was throwing Rion for a bit of a loop too.

“Do you think I should do it then? Or not?” Rion asked.

Noa shrugged. “It’s up to you. It might be hard and it might not help. But it might be good too. I don’t know. It’s complicated.”

Rion considered it. That didn’t really help him decide, but he felt better hearing Noa’s opinion. Noa was telling him what he knew based on his own experiences and it was the truth. It made him willing to consider it.

“I’ll think about it,” Rion finally said.

“Thank you. That’s all I’m asking,” Peter said, turning back to him. “No one can force you to go. You’re almost eighteen. You’re pretty much an adult now so you have to consider these things yourself.”

It was an unexpected acknowledgement and Rion appreciated it. Of course, he’d heard similar things before, but it was usually a toss up between ‘you’re too young to do that!’ and ‘you’re almost an adult so you need to be responsible!’ Rion had never heard anyone tell him his decisions were his own, and… It was really nice. Especially coming from Peter.

“Yeah. Thanks,” Rion said. “I just… I don’t know. There’s a lot going on.”

“I know. That’s why we want to help you,” Peter said. “We want to be friends again, like we used to. Things are different now, but I think we can do it.”

“Maybe,” Rion said.

But honestly, he just wanted to reconnect with Noa. Wouldn’t it be a bad thing to reconnect with the others? Then again, Rion did feel closer to Danny and Peter again…

“I want to know more about what’s going on,” Noa spoke up. “I want to know more about this stuff with Sarina.”

“There isn’t much to say,” Rion told him. “She’s a jerk.”

“And she hurt you,” Noa said. “Peter says you have more bruises.”

“They’re not that bad. They’re going away,” Rion said.

“Bruises are always bad,” Noa said. “If Sarina is hurting you, then I hate her.”

He said it with finality. Rion opened his mouth to argue but closed it right away.

This wasn’t like Danny, who rejected Sarina despite being her friend for years. Noa was rejecting Sarina because he took issue with any bully or abuser. He’d always been like that. And there was no question that the attitude came from his experience with his bad home life as a kid. There was no arguing with him about it.

“I don’t want you to hate her,” Rion said after a brief pause, “but I understand how you feel.”

“She bruised you,” Noa said. “You shouldn’t be treated like that! That should never happen!”

With Peter in the room, Rion couldn’t argue. But his tongue curled in his mouth. He hated how Noa jumped to his defence.

He did deserve to get beaten by Sarina. Because he was a liar. He was awful. He ruined everything that he touched. How could Noa of all people not see it? He knew. He had to know. There were no secrets between them.

“No one deserves to be hurt,” Peter said. “And none of us are impressed with Sarina right now.”

“I guess,” Rion said. “I just… I don’t know. Forget about it. Let’s talk about something else.”

“Well… We got the important stuff out of the way,” Peter said. “Why don’t we head downstairs and hang out down there. Mom and Dad would like to visit with you for a bit, Rion.”

Rion hesitated and then let out a breath.

“Okay. I don’t mind. Your parents are cool,” he said.

Noa nodded, though he looked reluctant. “Okay. Fine.”