Grey hopped up from the couch and began to pace. Caterina and Alaric turned to look at him for a moment before going back to their conversation. “On the yacht. It was obvious that she—she doesn’t like this any more than I do. I thought I was just some side note in her life, but that’s not true at all. She wants to be with me, she just feels like there’s no solution. But I have to get her to see that there might be. We could do it together. I can’t just let her slip away.” If he was going to die, he was going to die happy and in love, damn it. He refused to let Jaya concede defeat for the both of them. Grey turned to Leo and Rahul, who looked fairly confused.

“Huh?” Leo said finally.

Grey laughed and ran up to them, feeling lighter than he had in weeks. “Homegoing’s in two weeks. That gives me about fourteen days to work on my strategy, what exactly I’m going to say.”

“Huh?” Rahul this time.

Grey grabbed him by the shoulders. “I’m going to tell her how I feel. I’m going to tell her… that I love her. I have to try to win her back. I have to.”

“Ouah!” Leo yelled, jumping up and clapping Grey on the back.

“Congratulations,” Rahul said, also standing and twisting his hands together awkwardly. “Um. May the force be with you.”

Grey and Leo laughed. Grey could feel Caterina’s and Alaric’s judgmental eyes on him, but even that couldn’t dim his joy.

“You’re going to tell Jaya you love her?” Caterina said, folding her long arms across her torso. Next to her, Alaric smiled a patronizing smile Grey wanted to wipe off his face.

“Yes,” Grey said, meeting their eyes. “Why?”

Alaric laughed. “You? And Jaya? I don’t see it.”

Grey felt his old, familiar insecurities begin to rear their ugly heads and tamped them down. “Sometimes people miss what’s right in front of them, don’t they?” he asked, pointedly looking from Alaric to Caterina and back.

Both their faces were livid as Grey, smirking, sat back down on the couch to begin a round of Hallucination.

Jaya