CH185

CH185
After his last class, we took the train further into the city. The fall air carried a sharpness that meant the leaves would start turning soon. Lukas walked beside me, arms twined together, and was every bit the old-world gentleman, even in the bustle of modern sidewalks.
We wandered, grabbed coffee from a hole-in-the-wall café where Lukas agreed to try something other than black coffee. We strolled past street performers and bookstores. He wasn’t tense, but I was. I couldn't help but wonder if there were enough eyes, enough time, enough power to keep him here. At a quiet stretch of park, we found a bench. Lukas tilted his head back, watching the light scatter through the trees.
“Do you miss it?” I asked softly.
"What?"
"Norway?" I paused. "Your Norway?"
He didn’t look at me right away. “Every day.”
“Your family?”
A small nod. “My brothers' laughter. My sister’s questions never ended. My mother’s voice.” His mouth quirked. “She had a music box. She played it every night when she thought no one was listening. I always suspected it was from a lover she couldn't forget. Maybe someone who had died.”
"Doesn't Sigfrid have it?"
He shook his head. "It was lost for some reason. Lost or stolen."
The ache in his voice pressed against my chest. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” He finally glanced at me. “I remember them fondly, and am content with the life I am building here."
I tried not to read too much into it, but his words made my stomach flutter. For a moment, neither of us spoke. The city moved on around us, but it felt like we were somewhere separate, caught between centuries.
"This time of year… she'd start trying to gather money to get me something for my birthday."
"Your birthday is soon?" He nodded. “When?”
“A few weeks, maybe more. October.” A faint smirk lifted his mouth. “Do people here celebrate them?”
“Of course we do!” I sighed. “Now I have to figure out what to get you. Isla's going to want to throw a party. Ryan, too.”
"As long as Matteo is not singing."
I snort. "That’s unlikely to happen, even if it's just happy birthday."
“I’ll be satisfied if you’re the first to remember.” His tone was lighter now, teasing. But something in his gaze lingered.
I shifted closer. “Well, what do you want?"
“Want?”
“Yeah, for your birthday or…. Just in general. What do you want?”
He leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees. The silence stretched long enough that I thought he wasn’t going to answer. Then, he replied.
“To stay. To see what happens if I do not disappear.” He glanced at me. “And you?” He turned to me, gaze steady and drawing me in. “What do you want, Vandelise Winters?”
I swallowed. My stomach jolting at the sound of my full name on his tongue.
“To be happy. To be safe.” I hesitated, then added. “To see where things go between us.”
His eyes softened, his mouth curving into the faintest smile. He didn’t move closer, but the air between us felt charged and alive with everything we would eventually be able to say to each other.
“Then perhaps,” he murmured, “we want the same thing.”
The moment stretched between us. I smiled and he smiled back. It felt like we'd had this conversation before, and it had gone the same way. Lukas didn’t reach for me, and I didn’t lean in, but he felt closer than a kiss. Eventually, the spell loosened. The city noises seeped back in, the hum of traffic grew loud, the laughter of strangers trickled through the trees, and Lukas exhaled, straightened, and offered me his hand.
“Shall we head back?”
I slipped my fingers into his. “We shall.”
The walk back to the train was slow, unhurried. We didn’t talk much, but the silence wasn’t heavy. It was comfortable, threaded through with glances and small smiles that said more than words could have. By the time the townhouse came into view, the windows lit against the night, I felt a little secure in the idea that if Reese was going to try again, it wouldn't be soon, and maybe there was enough time to stop him once and for all.
Lukas unlocked the door, and we entered into chaos.
Isla had taken over the whole couch; textbooks were open in a sprawl that had already consumed two blankets and half a pizza box. Ben and Matteo were squished at the other end, Ben scribbling notes in the margins of what looked like an art theory book while Matteo plucked a guitar absentmindedly, humming under his breath. Ryan had his laptop propped open at the dining table, muttering curses at whatever he was doing.
Lukas and I dropped our duffels by the door and locked it.
“Group study session?” I asked.
“Group survival,” Isla corrected without looking up. “Midterms aren’t for weeks, but apparently, professors here think that means assign everything at once.”
“Don’t complain,” Ben said, though his grin gave him away. “Though this is the most civilized frat house I’ve ever been in.”
Matteo strummed a dramatic chord. “That’s because I’m here. Pure class.”
Ryan rolled his eyes. “You were eating my fries.”
“You weren’t guarding them.”
Lukas ushered me toward the free couch. I sank into the seat with my own backpack and opened my notes, letting the noise of everyone talking over each other wash around me.
It was nice. I could pretend we were just a group of friends buried under schoolwork, late nights, and too much caffeine. The threat of Jean-Baptiste, the flicker of Lukas’ existence, the looming shadow of the mirrors felt miles away.
"Are you going to invite Tanner over?"
Isla grumbled at her paper. "Maybe. Eventually. After I don't fail."
I caught Lukas’ gaze across the mess, his mouth softening into that faint, private smile.
"Triple dates in the future?" I asked and glanced over at Ryan. "Quadruple?"
He flashed me a smile. "Maybe."