Everything is too loud and too quiet all at once, like someone's turned up the volume on reality while muting everything that matters. Mom and Lydia hover as they help me from the car, their touches gentle but somehow amplifying the hollow space inside me. I've come back to a life that feels like watching my favorite movie with all the scenes scrambled—familiar but fundamentally wrong.

Jake and Ollie wait on the porch, and the sight twists something raw beneath my ribs. Behind them, Mia, Camilla, and Marcus clutch an oversized teddy bear and balloons declaring 'Welcome Home' in mockingly cheerful letters.

It's overwhelming, but I force my lips into what I hope passes for a smile and let them welcome me back to a home that doesn't feel like mine anymore.

Camilla reaches me first, arms outstretched. When she hugs me, pain radiates through my side like lightning, drawing a sharp flinch. Her face drains of color as she pulls back.

"Oh, my God, I'm so sorry! Are you okay?"

"It's fine," I lie, because that's what you do when people are trying so hard to make things normal. You pretend. You smile. You swallow the pain until it settles somewhere deep inside where no one can see it.

She studies my face for a moment, tears glistening in her usually bright eyes, before pulling me into another hug, this one gentle as a whisper.

"I'm so glad you're okay. Please, for the love of God, don't you ever scare me like that again. I just got you in this life." Her voice cracks on the last words, and for the first time since I've known her, I hear Camilla cry.

Marcus steps forward, dramatically shaking his head. "Yeah, seriously. Between worrying about you and worrying about her worrying about you, I'm about to have a stress-induced cardiac arrest."

A small laugh escapes despite everything.

"For real though," he says, wrapping me in a careful hug. "We missed you."

"Stop hogging her, Marcus," Mia interrupts, stepping up for her turn. "I'm so happy you're home."

"Me too." I smile, but it feels like wearing someone else's clothes—not quite right, not quite mine.

The laughter fades quickly, and is replaced by that gnawing emptiness that follows me like a second shadow as I glance around at their relieved faces. But there's one face missing—the one that haunts my dreams and fills the spaces between my heartbeats. The one I need more than air.

"Where's Nick?" I ask, trying to mask the tremor in my voice.

Mom exchanges a quick look with Lydia that makes my stomach turn. "He had a family emergency to take care of."

"Oh. Is Alfie okay?" Dread curls through my veins like poison.

Mom's reply comes too quick, too rehearsed. "Alfie's fine, honey."

My heart pounds against my ribs as realization hits. Nick doesn't have any other family. There's only one person he'd drop everything for.

Nate.