"Yeah." He releases our pinkies and leans back slightly. His expression is heavy but calmer than I expected. "She actually sat me down and told me when it was done. I guess I thought… I don't know, maybe I thought this summer would feel like it used to. The four of us all together, my family could feel like a family again, you know? But it's been anything but that. Maybe we're not supposed to go back."

His words make me realize how much we've all been clinging to ghosts of the past. For Jake, it's been more than nostalgia—it's been a lifeline, something to hold onto when everything else feels uncertain.

"Maybe," I watch Jake's face carefully, "it's not about trying to recreate what was. Ever since Dad died, all I feel like I've been doing is chasing the ghost of him. Thinking if I could just do the same things, go to the same places, somehow, I'd feel closer to him. But all it did was remind me of what I'd lost." I pause, the truth of my own words hitting me. "The past is like a photo, it captures a moment perfectly, but you can't step back into it. Maybe healing isn't about trying to rebuild what broke. Maybe it's about taking those broken pieces and creating something new, something different but just as beautiful."

The words surprise me even as they leave my lips. I've been struggling so much with my own past, with the idea of moving forward. Maybe I needed to hear these words as much as Jake did.

He looks at me, and for the first time in weeks, the sadness in his eyes lifts just enough for hope to peek through.

"Yeah," he says quietly. "It just sucks that things are so fucked up."

"It's just a blip in time," I offer with a small, tentative smile. "Things won't stay like this forever."

But even as I say it, I know believing those words is a whole different challenge. For now, though, I hope they're enough.

Sonder pulses with life tonight. The crowd's chatter hums like electricity, glasses clinking a delicate symphony against the backdrop of laughter. Amber lighting bathes everything in a warm glow, catching on the polished wood and twinkling fairy lights that Nick and Nate have carefully curated. Every detail speaks of intention, of the heart they've poured into making this place feel like home.

My eyes find Nate immediately.