(When things finally seem calm again… the past leaves one last crack in the mirror.)
Weeks Later
Kade hadn't flinched in days.
That was the first thing Viera noticed.
No more tension in his shoulders when the bell rang.
No more scanning the halls for shadows that looked like Logan's.
He was standing straighter. Laughing easier. Sleeping without clenched fists.
She'd killed the wolves.
He was safe.
But sometimes, when the world feels too still, that's when you should worry.
They were lying on the library couch, hidden in the far back corner where no one bothered them.
Kade had his head in her lap.
Viera was reading out loud from a book she didn't really care about.
He was tracing invisible lines along her thigh, half-listening, half-lost in thought.
She was so used to his peace now that she almost didn't notice the shift—how his hand paused mid-line. How his brow furrowed, not in confusion, but in… memory.
"Vi?"
She set the book down. "Yeah?"
"…Do you ever think about the others?"
She blinked. "What others?"
"The ones who hurt me. Hurt us."
"Sometimes."
"I mean…" he swallowed. "Do you think they… regret it?"
She didn't answer right away.
Then softly, "Why does it matter?"
"I don't know," he murmured. "I guess I just… I want to believe they learned something. That it wasn't just destruction."
Viera didn't flinch.
But something shifted in her eyes.
Because she knew the truth.
Maya was in therapy.
Logan's family had gone bankrupt.
Coach Teller had moved to a city two hours away.
Half the student body tiptoed around Viera like she might light them on fire for blinking wrong.
No, they hadn't learned.
They'd just lost.
And Kade didn't know.
Because she'd made sure he didn't.
"Kade," she said gently, "you don't owe them anything."
"I know."
"They didn't apologize."
"I know."
"But you still want to give them the benefit of the doubt."
He looked up at her.
"I guess it's just… it's easier than believing people are born cruel."
She looked at him for a long time.
And thought: This is why I love you.
Friday Morning
He got a letter in his locker.
Unmarked.
Folded.
No handwriting on the front.
Inside: two lines.
You think you're safe. You never were.
Enjoy your glass castle, freak.
Kade stared at it.
His fingers trembled. Just a little.
The air around him went still again.
He felt fourteen. Bruised. Worthless.
He felt like he was back in the gym.
Back under Logan's boots.
Back in a body too soft to survive.
But then—
He remembered something.
He wasn't alone anymore.
That Afternoon – Kade's Room
He gave her the note in silence.
Let her read it.
Watched her eyes move.
Waited.
But this time—this one time—he beat her to it.
"I don't want you to go after them."
Her eyes rose slowly.
"Kade—"
"No." He stood straighter. "Listen to me. Please."
Her arms crossed. Defensive. Ready to bite back.
He stepped forward anyway.
"You promised you'd lean on me too."
She was quiet.
"I get it. I do. You did what you had to. You saved me. But if you keep going down that path… you'll lose yourself."
"I'm not—"
"You are," he said softly. "Every time you smile when someone flinches. Every time you pretend it's just 'strategy' when you're playing with people's lives."
She inhaled sharply. Her mouth opened, closed.
He didn't stop.
"I don't need revenge anymore, Vi."
"But I do," she whispered.
That stopped him.
He stared.
"What?"
"I need to believe they can't touch you again," she said, voice shaking. "I need to control it. All of it. Because if I let go, even for a second, I start to believe you'll disappear. That they'll find a way to take you from me."
She sank onto his bed, tears forming.
"You're the only good thing I have that isn't fake."
Kade knelt in front of her.
Took her hands.
"You're not fake."
"I feel like I am."
"You're not. You're the smartest, scariest, most beautiful person I've ever known. You don't have to destroy people to keep me. I'm not leaving."
She looked at him. Bare, raw, real.
And whispered:
"You promise?"
"I promise."
Then, a beat of silence.
And he added:
"But you also promised you'd lean on me."
"I know."
"Which means… you let me help."
She squinted. "Help how?"
And before she could blink—
He lunged.
"KADE—"
His fingers jammed under her ribs.
"OH MY—KADE—STOP—"
"No more doom monologues!"
"YOU LITTLE—HAHA—THIS IS—UNFAIR—"
"Say you'll stop plotting world domination!"
"NEVER—HAHA—YOU—"
He tackled her onto the bed.
Pinned her with a grin. His knee rested across her hips as he tickled every weak spot she had learned to hide.
"You're not the only one who can be terrifying," he said triumphantly.
"I'M GONNA—KAAADE—"
"You're already losing!"
"YOU'RE DEAD WHEN THIS ENDS—"
"We'll see—"
Her laughter turned helpless.
And slowly—so slowly—she stopped fighting.
She just lay there, laughing so hard she couldn't breathe.
And when the giggles faded, and he collapsed beside her, she whispered:
"…You're getting better at that."
He smiled, half-asleep already.
"Learned from the best."
End of Chapter 15
Next: Chapter 16 – Never the Same