Astrid
I sat frozen for a moment after Reed said it was fine, my mind still catching up to everything that had just happened. I’d fallen asleep beside him. I’d grabbed onto his shirt like he belonged to me somehow. And worst of all, I’d slept peacefully, more peacefully than I had since arriving at this school.
I eased off the bed as naturally as I could manage, which wasn’t very naturally at all.
"Sorry," I said again, unable to help myself. "For invading your space like that."
"You don’t need to apologize," Reed said, calm in a way that only made my face burn hotter.
Neither of us seemed to know what came next. I decided the safest option was simply leaving the room before I embarrassed myself any further.
We reached the kitchen at almost the same moment, and Xander was already there, sitting at the counter eating a bowl of spaghetti like it was the most ordinary breakfast in the world. He looked up as we walked in, his eyes flicking from me to Reed and back again.
I braced myself for whatever comment was coming.
"I made breakfast, guys," he said simply, and went back to eating.
I blinked, stunned by the lack of teasing. "...Thanks."
Reed sat down across from him without comment. I lowered myself into the remaining chair, still waiting for the other shoe to drop.
It didn’t, not immediately. The kitchen felt strangely normal, plates and forks and the smell of garlic in the air, nothing like the tense, awkward morning I’d been dreading.
"He actually cooked," I said, mostly to myself.
"Reed doesn’t appreciate my cooking," Xander said, mouth full.
"It’s edible," Reed said, entirely unbothered.
Xander pressed a hand to his chest like he’d been mortally wounded. "Edible. That’s the best you’ve got?"
I laughed despite everything, and for one strange, unguarded moment, it almost felt like a real home. Two brothers bickering over breakfast, a kitchen that smelled like something someone had actually tried to make. The thought settled uncomfortably in my chest. I wasn’t used to feeling safe anywhere, let alone in a place like this.
We’d barely finished eating when Xander leaned toward me, studying my face with far too much interest.
"So," he said. "Wanna tell me what happened between you two?"
I nearly choked on my food. "Nothing happened."
"You’re blushing."
"I’m embarrassed because you’re asking strange questions," I said, which was at least partly true.
He glanced between me and Reed, clearly unconvinced, while Reed remained infuriatingly calm across the table. I silently hoped he wouldn’t say anything at all.
"Do you always sleep that close to people?" Xander asked, grinning.
I wanted the floor to swallow me whole.
"Xander," Reed said. "Stop bothering her."
Xander paused, glancing between the two of us with a grin that suggested he’d noticed more than he was letting on. Then, unexpectedly, he backed off. "Fine. I’m done."
I looked at Reed, surprised, and murmured a quiet thank you. He just kept eating, though our eyes met for a brief second, and I remembered exactly how it had felt waking up against his shoulder. I looked away first.
We got ready for school not long after. I gathered my books while Xander complained loudly about having to sit through another day of lectures, and Reed reminded him, without much sympathy, that they had responsibilities as Student Council officers whether he liked it or not.
The three of us left together, and I noticed, somewhere along the walk, how natural it had started to feel walking between them, like this was simply how mornings went now.
That realization bothered me more than it should have. I reminded myself, firmly, that this arrangement was temporary. I couldn’t afford to get attached to two princes whose father had killed my mother, whether they knew that or not.
I found Ivy waiting near the entrance, already mid-complaint before I’d even reached her.
"I still can’t believe you’re stuck living with them," she said. "They’re going to boss you around. Make you clean everything. Probably expect you to follow some ridiculous set of royal etiquette rules."
I tried not to laugh. "It’s really not that bad."
She stopped walking. "Wait. Are you defending them?"
"I’m not," I said quickly, though the words came out faster than they should have. "I’m just saying, they haven’t mistreated me. Reed’s actually considerate. Xander’s annoying, but not cruel. They shared their dinner with me. Reed helped me after combat class. Neither of them treats me like a servant, even though I’m the scholarship student everyone else looks down on."
Ivy studied me for a long moment, a slow grin spreading across her face. "You actually like living with them."
"I don’t want you worrying about something that isn’t actually a problem," I said, too quickly again.
But some quiet, honest part of me had to admit she wasn’t entirely wrong. I didn’t hate the apartment anymore. If anything, some small, treacherous corner of me had started looking forward to going back there after classes.
Further down the hallway, I caught sight of Reed and Xander walking ahead of us, deep in some conversation I couldn’t hear. Xander said something, and Reed shook his head, the corner of his mouth twitching like he was fighting a smile.
I realized, watching them, that I’d started to recognize things about each of them without meaning to. Reed’s quietness, the way he listened more than he spoke. Xander’s constant teasing, always testing, always looking for a reaction. And, more than either of those, the way they’d both started orbiting around me lately, in small, quiet ways I hadn’t fully let myself notice until now.
This doesn’t mean anything, I told myself. They’re just roommates. That’s all this is.
Ivy was still talking beside me, something about her own group project, when her voice suddenly trailed off mid-sentence.
I noticed the change immediately and followed her gaze down the corridor.
Selene was approaching.
She wasn’t alone. Three girls flanked her, each one radiating a very different kind of presence. One walked slightly ahead, already whispering something to the girl beside her, the kind of girl who clearly knew every piece of gossip on campus before anyone else did. Another moved quietly, her eyes sweeping the hallway like she was cataloguing everything and everyone in it. The third was tall, broad-shouldered, walking with the easy confidence of someone who expected the crowd to part for her, and it did.
Selene’s eyes found mine and held there, her expression perfectly composed, unreadable in the way that had unsettled me the very first time I’d met her.
The air in the hallway seemed to shift, tightening around us like something had already begun, whether any of us had spoken a word yet or not.