Nicholas Pov
The movie flickered in the dim room, casting soft gold light over everyone. Bailey laughed too loudly, Nonna kept offering more cookies, and somehow Nathan and Greg ended up sharing the same blanket without even noticing.
But even wrapped up in all that cozy chaos, I could see the way Greg's gaze drifted, how his jaw tightened at the edges. He wasn't here, his mind was somewhere far from our twinkling Christmas lights and cocoa mugs.
When the movie ended and people started drifting to their rooms, I found him standing at the window, staring out at the quiet snowfall.
"You okay?" I asked.
Greg didn't look away from the glass. "I should go home."
"Home as in—"
"Yeah." He finally turned toward me. "My dad. My stepmom. My siblings."
I blinked. Greg never talked about them. Ever. It was the one subject he shut down without hesitation. So hearing him bring it up on his own felt like walking into a room I didn't know existed.
