I sigh, my cheek landing on my arm. “So fucking happy.”

The man slumps in his seat, head falling onto the headrest, and then he grins. “Damn. You look it too. He’s been there the entire time?”

As I straighten back up, I nod, focusing on him while I push out more. “We weren’t on the best of terms because I couldn’t tell him what happened. It took until recently, but now he knows where I went and why. I told him everything—even about the lake house.” Tears build fast at the memories, and I swallow roughly. Inhale and exhale. “Saying it to him really fucking hurt, Roman. I’ve hidden from it for so long.”

“But you did it anyway. You’re on the other side and still standing.”

His head tilts, concern marring his face, so I force a small smile. His expression softens in response, and he manages to fill the silence with everything I need. Such a simple thing he wields like the world’s most powerful weapon. At least in my world.

Roman glances to the side, and the dome light pops on a second later, accompanied by a ding as a door opens. He angles the camera to show Bea crawling into the back passenger seat with a shopping bag. “Say hi to Remi.”

She glances up with a smile while shutting the door. “How’s my girl?” Unbuttoning her coat, she reaches for the phone with her other hand. “We miss you.”

Things changed between Roman and Bea after his attack while we were staying at her lake house. She said it took almost losing him to realize how deep that loss would have gone.

Having recently been gutted and the wound being a through-and-through, I understood.

I leaned on her a lot while he recovered. She was my first call when I finally got to him, barely conscious and broken. Then she was there for both of us every step of the way. In truth, she kept us afloat until we could swim again.

They became a we after Roman and I moved so I could start school. She would visit back and forth until she eventually stayed with him in New York. But neither of them loved the city. He denied it for a long time—and I know it was because of me. After I started working with Heath, Bea and I ganged up on him, and they moved to Philadelphia just over two years ago.

It was after the weekend I spent at Sound Clash that I helped them unpack at their new place. While I was there, I also helped them celebrate something else. Or someone.

“I miss you guys too,” I tell her, only a high-pitched squeal overpowers my too and has Bea dramatically widening her eyes.

Roman chuckles. “I told you she’d wake up the second you got back.”