The silence stretched again, and for a second, I thought it would swallow us whole.
Then Leon reached into his jacket and pulled something out, folded, creased, edges slightly torn. My eyes locked on it immediately.
The eviction notice.
"I didn't want to give it back," he said quietly. "But it's… effective today."
I didn't think. I just moved.
I shot upright, heart pounding in my throat. "No, No, I have to go----"
But his hand was already on my shoulder, firm and steady, holding me down with more care than force.
"Breathe," he said. "Just listen to me first."
His voice cut through the panic like a thread of steel. He didn't raise it, didn't bark orders, but something in the way he said it made me freeze.
So I stayed. My hands curled into the sheets, knuckles pale. I tried to slow the air forcing its way in and out of my lungs.
Then he continued, calm and sure.
"A man called your phone. I picked it up."
I blinked. My phone? I hadn't even remembered having it on me.
"When he found out where you were… what happened… he came rushing over."
Leon paused. The crinkle of the paper still lingered between us.
"Said his name was Francoise."
The weight of that name dropped straight into my stomach.
Leon kept talking.
"He looked… wrecked. Like he'd aged ten years in a night. The second he saw you, he just… I don't know, Nyx. That man cares. Deeply."
I bit down hard on the inside of my cheek.
"He asked if you had anything on you when it happened. I showed him the notice."
Leon hesitated.
"Didn't say much. Just told me to have you call him. When you woke up."
I took the paper from his hand, slowly. My fingers were trembling again. I stared at it, at the ink that had bled slightly from the tears or maybe the rain, I couldn't even remember anymore.
I could barely feel my own heartbeat. Or maybe I just didn't want to.
"I thought I had no one left," I whispered.
Leon didn't reply. He didn't need to.
He just stayed by my side, breathing the same heavy air, grounding me without words.
And for the first time in weeks…
I didn't feel completely alone.
As soon as Leon left the room to give me space, I picked up my phone with shaky fingers and found his name, Mr. Francoise. I didn't even hesitate. I tapped the call button, and pressed it against my ear.
It rang once.
Twice.
Then—
"Nyx," came that familiar, deep voice, older now, gentler, but still carrying the warmth of a man who once looked after an entire hall of brilliant, chaotic students. The moment I heard it, something inside me broke.
I cried.
Not the silent kind. Not the strong kind.
It was loud. Raw. From the chest. The kind of tears that scraped out everything I'd kept buried beneath pretending I was fine. Sobs wracked through me, and I couldn't stop them if I tried. I was drowning in everything, grief, guilt, hunger, fear, despair… and then his voice again.
"It's alright," he said. "Let it out. I'm here."
He didn't say anything else. He just… waited.
For minutes.
When my cries finally softened into broken breaths, I cleared my throat and tried to steady my voice.
"You came to visit…" I whispered.
"I had to," he replied. "How could I not?"
There was a beat. Then he sighed. "Nyx… I need to tell you something. About the house."
My heart clenched. I braced myself.
"You don't have to worry anymore. I bought it."
I blinked. "You… what?"
"I bought Nico's house," he said. "But, listen to me first. I had to hide my name from the deed. Elias is still probing, and this was the only way I could keep the property safe. It wasn't easy to slip it under his radar."
My throat dried.
"But the downside is… you can't live there, not yet. Not while he's watching. We need him to believe you've been fully evicted. That you're out of the picture."
I closed my eyes.
"You can go back, just to collect your things. I promise, Nyx… I won't let them change anything in there. The house, the rooms, everything inside… it'll all stay exactly the same."
"And when the time comes," he added gently, "it'll still be yours to return to."
My chest tightened, but it wasn't pain this time. It was… something warmer. Something I thought I lost.
Hope.
Even the faintest flicker of it still burned.
The call ended with a promise… one I clung to like a fraying thread of light. I let the phone slip from my fingers onto the hospital bed.
"Can I go home now?" I asked aloud, though mostly to myself. My voice was barely above a whisper.
As if summoned by that question, a soft knock came at the door and a doctor stepped in, clipboard in hand, glasses slightly fogged from the corridor's humidity. He offered a polite smile, but his tone was firm.
"Miss Blake, you've stabilized for now. But I need to remind you, your body's severely dehydrated and malnourished. That fainting spell was your body giving up on you. You can't keep living on fumes."
I nodded slightly, lowering my gaze, biting the inside of my cheek to stop myself from crying again. I knew it. I'd known it for days. My reflection had told me the same thing long before anyone else dared to.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Leon tense.
He was leaning by the window, arms folded, trying so hard to look composed. But I caught it, the faint twitch of his jaw, the subtle flare of his nose. He was angry. Not at me. At what I had become. At what the world had done to me.
Leon steps forward, slow but sure, as if the weight he's been carrying finally becomes too heavy to hold back.
"Nyx…" His voice cracks, but he doesn't flinch. "Remember when we sat right next to each other in every class? The way you always laughed whenever I teased you?"
I stay quiet, my gaze stuck on the clean sheets. My hands are cold.
He doesn't stop.
"Library breaks, every single day, you'd drag me with you just so you could read in peace. But you'd still want me there. Said my presence kept the silence from being lonely."
I feel his shadow fall over me. He kneels slightly, eyes searching mine.
"Lunch was chaotic, always. You talking nonstop about school gossip. And every time I said something dumb, which was often, you'd flick my forehead like I deserved it."
He gives a faint, broken chuckle.
"I heard about Nico… your family. It was everywhere. You couldn't go online without seeing it. I tried to find you, Nyx. I didn't even know where to start, but I tried." His voice dips lower, like he's trying not to let it crack again.
"And then there you were. On that bridge. Ready to disappear." His breath hitches.
"Nyx, you're still here."
My throat clenches.
"You're still breathing." He steps closer.
Then, warm palms cup my cheeks, steady but shaking. He lifts my face, gently forcing me to meet his gaze. His eyes… they're filled with pain. But they don't look away.
"Don't let it stop your brightness."
Leon was quiet as he helped me pack. His movements were careful, respectful, like the house was a sanctuary he didn't want to disturb. I moved like a ghost, folding clothes that no longer held warmth, boxing memories I wasn't sure I'd ever open again.
Then he stopped.
I glanced up, and there he was, standing by the hallway wall, staring at a picture frame. His expression shifted, softened, almost conflicted. It was one of Nico's favorites. The one he hung himself. I remembered that day… how he suddenly hugged me from behind, pressing his cheek against mine just as the timer on the camera clicked.
In that photo, I was smiling. Genuinely. Fully. A smile that reached all the way up to my eyes.
Where did that smile go?
Leon didn't look at me when he spoke.
"I still remember the time I hit Nico." His voice was low, unsure if he should even be saying it. "He was boasting how you chose him. I just… snapped."
He laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Jealous little shit, huh?"
My hands paused on the folds of a shirt. That name, Nico. It reached into me like a thread tugging on a locked door. I looked up at the picture.
There he was. Holding me. And there I was, laughing like the world never hurt me.
Leon noticed. For the first time since the hospital, my eyes weren't empty.
He took a step closer, his gaze flicking between me and the frame. "You still look at him the same way, you know. Like he's your gravity."
I didn't answer. Couldn't.
But the tremble in my fingers was enough.
Nico's memory… it was still the only thing strong enough to break through the numbness.
And Leon saw that. Clear as day.
We ended up sitting by the living room floor, the sunlight casting long shadows across the hardwood. The silence wasn't as heavy as before. It felt… quieter, not emptier. Leon leaned back against the wall, his fingers drumming softly on his knee.
"You know," he said suddenly, "I never told you this… but even back then, I knew. The way you looked at each other." He looked over at me, a sad little smile tugging at his lips. "I didn't stand a chance."
I didn't respond. Not out of awkwardness—but because he wasn't asking for anything back. He was just... reminiscing.
I looked around the room once more. My heart felt like it was being wrung dry, every piece of furniture carrying echoes. The laughter, the arguments, the warmth. Everything. And then my eyes landed on the small urn, sitting atop the shelf near the television.
I stood up slowly.
Leon watched, silent.
I stepped over, kneeling before the urn. My fingers brushed the cool ceramic, delicate and reverent. "I'll be back," I whispered. "I promise."
I cradled it in my arms as I turned toward the door.
But before I could take another step, Leon was in front of me, blocking the way.
"Nyx…" His tone was gentle, but firm. "Leave him here."
My arms tightened around the urn instinctively. "No. I… I want him with me."
Leon shook his head. "This is his house. It always was. And when you're ready to come back—when this place becomes a home again—he should be the one welcoming you."
I opened my mouth to argue, but… something in his words struck deeper than logic. They echoed in places inside me I hadn't touched in weeks. Like Nico's voice, disguised through someone else's mouth.
Reluctantly, I turned back. My knees hit the floor again as I gently placed the urn back where it had always been. I kissed it softly, pressing my forehead against it.
"Wait for me," I murmured.
As I stood there in front of the urn, fingers brushing the rim one last time, something tugged at the back of my mind—like a whisper, soft and persistent. The cube.
I turned without a word and made my way toward Nico's office. My footsteps were quiet, but rushed. Like I was afraid it might disappear if I hesitated.
The room smelled faintly of him—of the cologne he barely used, the leather from the old chair he loved, the faint ozone scent of lingering electricity. I didn't flick the lights on. I didn't need to. I knew where he kept it.
Second drawer on the left. Locked once, but not anymore.
I pulled it open. And there it was. The cube. Sleek, matte black, small enough to fit in my palm, and still warm like it had waited for me. My chest tightened as I scooped it up and slipped it into the deepest pocket of my backpack. I didn't even zip it all the way shut—my fingers were trembling too much.
I stared at the drawer for a few seconds longer, then turned and walked out.
Leon had moved closer to the hallway, standing just near the entrance.
"Where'd you run off to?" he asked, tilting his head slightly, voice laced with concern.
I didn't answer. I couldn't. I walked right past him, brushing gently against his shoulder as I crossed the threshold.
He didn't press it.
He just followed me out, steps behind mine, silent, steady.
And the house... stayed behind.
Nico stayed behind.
But not all of him.
Not the cube.
Not what I still carried, hidden, quietly alive.
The soft chime of my phone broke the silence during the ride. A new message blinked on the screen, an address and a short note attached.
"Can't let you be homeless. This is all I can do for you. –Francoise."
I stared at it for a while, fingers tightening around the phone. No long speech. No promises. Just a gesture. And somehow… that was more than enough.
A faint flicker lit inside me.
I was still breathing.
And right now, that was all that mattered.
"Leon," I spoke, my voice faint but steady. "Can I ask a favor?"
His eyes glanced at me from the driver's seat, warm and attentive, never pressing. "Yeah. Anything."
"Can you take me here?" I handed over the phone with the address.
He took one look, then gave a small nod. "Sure."
The drive didn't take long. I hadn't realized how close we were until he slowed down and pulled over near a small, quiet apartment complex tucked behind rows of trees. Nothing grand. But it looked… peaceful.
"This is it?" Leon asked, checking the number again just to be sure. Then a smile stretched across his face. "No way."
I blinked, looking up at him.
"This place is just a few blocks from mine," he said, and for a second, he actually looked happy. "Like, literally three turns away. You're practically my neighbor now."
He chuckled under his breath, like the universe had done him a small favor.
I didn't respond, just let my gaze fall onto the building. My fingers lightly grazed the edge of my backpack, feeling the cube still safely hidden inside.
A home… even if borrowed.
A friend… even if unexpected.
And maybe… maybe that faint flicker in my chest wasn't so fragile after all.
I stepped out of the car, my limbs still stiff, body heavier than I remembered, but the door ahead? It was open.
For now, that was enough.