"Oh… I see," Aiden said in a light voice that sounded brittle around the edges.
Lyra hummed dramatically. "Oopss… I think he feels hurt."
I blinked. "You do?"
"I don't like it," he admitted. "But I get it."
His restraint tugged at something deep in my chest.
There was a pause between us. Not silence, there was still the quiet murmur of coffee cups and distant laughter, but it felt like the world waited on our next move.
Then: "I still want to know what you find."
"You will," I promised. "I won't keep anything from you."
He nodded, but something in his expression shifted, growing darker and smaller. "Except the company on the trip."
I narrowed my eyes. "That's not fair."
"No," he agreed in a calm but clipped voice. "But it's honest."
I stared down at my plate, the last few bites of waffle untouched, going cold like the part of me that wished this conversation had gone differently.
"I don't want to fight," I said softly.
