"Clara."
Clara turned at the sound of her name.
Tyler was walking back from the counter, his attention already moving between the empty chair beside the table and the boy occupying it.
"What happened?"
"Nothing," Clara replied too quickly.
The boy looked at Tyler with sudden interest.
"You're Tyler, aren't you?"
Tyler stopped beside the table.
"Do I know you?"
"No." The boy gave a short laugh. "You just look familiar."
Tyler studied him for a moment.
He didn't need to ask.
The moment their eyes met, the boy's thoughts were already loud enough.
So that's him.
The one who threatened my little brother.
Tyler's expression barely changed.
Lucas's brother.
That explained it.
Interesting.
The boy straightened slightly, confidence returning now that he had confirmed Tyler's identity.
"So you're Tyler."
"Apparently."
"You don't talk much, do you?"
Tyler pulled out his chair but didn't sit.
"Depends on the person."
The boy smiled without much humor.
"I heard you're tough."
"Can you just leave?" Clara said.
He didn't look at her.
"People talk about you."
Tyler looked at him.
"People talk too much."
"Maybe they do."
Tyler had expected Lucas to be angry after their earlier encounter. He hadn't expected him to involve someone older so quickly.
The boy leaned slightly closer.
"Still, I expected someone different."
He stood for a second neither of them moved, and then his expression shifted, something harder settling into it.
"Come outside. We need to talk."
Tyler almost sighed.
Of course.
He glanced toward Eris.
She was watching him.
Clara was watching the boy.
Neither of them seemed comfortable.
Tyler looked back at Lucas's brother.
"There's nothing to talk about."
"Then come outside."
Tyler knew what would happen next.
He also knew he couldn't allow a fight to happen inside the café.
Not because he was worried about himself.
Because too many people were watching.
Too many thoughts.
Too many possibilities.
A public confrontation would create questions.
Questions created conversations.
Conversations created memories.
Memories created changes.
He didn't need another variable.
He was ready to stand up when Clara's hand shot across the table and closed around his.
He looked down at it. Then at her.
She shook her head, grip tightening, like letting go would be the same as watching him walk into traffic. "Don't."
It came out barely above a whisper. There was nothing playful in it.
Tyler stared at her.
She wasn't teasing him.
She wasn't performing concern for an audience.
She was afraid, plainly and completely, and she was physically holding on to keep him from walking out that door.
Something inside him stopped.
For a second the café blurred at the edges, the noise of it falling somewhere far away. That look on her face was one he'd spent an entire life trying to earn and never had. This exact expression, something close enough to it that his chest didn't know the difference.
He remembered how pathetic the wanting had felt, in hindsight. Years of it. Studying what she liked. Trying to become someone she'd notice. Waiting for a conversation that ran past five minutes, an invitation, some small sign that all that quiet caring had landed somewhere. It never did. The best he'd ever gotten were the small things, a conversation, a smile, a few minutes sitting near her, and he'd built entire hopes on top of them like that was reasonable. He'd wasted years chasing an expression that never came.
And now, after everything, after a second life and everything it had cost him, here it was. Clara looking at him like she actually cared what happened to him. Not because she needed something. Not because he'd impressed her. Just because she didn't want him hurt.
His chest tightened around it. For one dangerous second the past and the present sat on top of each other, and the boy who used to want this so badly nearly surfaced again.
Almost.
Tyler breathed out slowly. Calm down.
His fingers eased. The warmth of her hand lingered another second before he let it go. He put the feeling somewhere deep enough that it wouldn't get in the way, and gave Clara a faint, steadying look.
That was when the boy noticed their hands.
"So you're with him?"
Clara blinked. "What?"
He nodded at where their hands had just been. "You said you were single."
"I am single." Clara pulled her hand back. "This isn't what you think it is."
"Looks pretty clear to me."
"It's not."
He smirked. "Good catch, kid." Then his eyes slid to Eris, back to Tyler. "So is she your side bitch?"
Everything stopped.
Tyler's expression went completely still. Clara's face changed. Eris's eyes narrowed to something sharp.
For once, Tyler didn't need a second to process what had been said. He understood it immediately, and completely.
He could take insults aimed at himself. He could take mockery, assumptions, whatever these three wanted to throw at him personally. But Eris wasn't a target he was willing to leave standing. She'd stood next to him for years. Trusted him. Challenged him when he needed it. Seen parts of him almost no one else had. And this boy had just dragged her into his provocation because he wanted a reaction out of him and didn't care what it cost him to get one.
Tyler's eyes found him, and the temperature of the table seemed to drop several degrees.
Before anyone could say anything, footsteps approached. An attendant came from the back carrying a small stack of papers.
"Excuse me." He stopped at the table, and Clara turned toward him automatically.
"Miss Tamiko sent these."
Clara took them without really looking at them. "Thank you."
"This first page has Sunday's menu, pricing, all the details. She had five copies made so you can hand them around your class, make it easier to explain."
"That's really helpful."
Tyler stepped quietly away from the table.
Clara's eyes caught the movement. He was already halfway to the door.
Eris saw it too. For a fraction of a second their eyes met across the table, and neither of them had time to say a word before the high schoolers stood, almost as one, and followed him out.
Clara's attention stayed locked on the door long after it swung shut.
"There's also a section here about extra guests and additional charges," the attendant was saying.
She barely heard him.
"Thank you for the templates," Eris said quickly, cutting in.
"They'll help a lot."
The attendant, mildly confused, nodded at Eris and gave a polite smile before heading back to the counter.
Only then did Eris look at Clara. "Worrying about him won't solve anything."
Clara's eyes stayed on the entrance. "What should we do?"
Eris hesitated. "I'm sure he'll manage."
"Are you stupid?"
Eris's eyebrows shot up.
"Those are high schoolers. Three of them." Clara's voice climbed. "And one of them is clearly had a grudge against Tyler."
"That's possible."
"Possible? He practically challenged him to go outside."
"I noticed."
"Then why are you sitting there?"
"Because the attendant was talking to us."
"That doesn't make me feel better."
"It shouldn't."
"Eris."
"I'm thinking."
"Think faster."
Eris's jaw tightened. She wasn't used to feeling this useless.
Tyler was outside and Three older boys had followed him.
Neither of them knew what he intended to do about it.
Clara's fingers started drumming against the table. "What if they hurt him?"
"Then we go outside."
"When?"
"Now."
"Then why aren't we moving?"
Eris looked toward the counter. "Because we haven't paid."
Clara stared. "You're worried about paying?"
"I'm worried about them not letting us leave without paying."
A beat. Clara nodded. "Right."
Eris stood, wallet already in hand. "Let me settle it fast. If we don't pay first, they might not let us both leave."
"Okay. Okay, go."
She'd taken one step when the attendant reappeared, this time carrying a steaming bowl.
"Excuse me." He looked between them. "The one who ordered this. Did he leave?"
"He just went outside," Eris said.
"So, should I set it down?"
Eris stared at the ramen like it had personally complicated her afternoon. "Please."
He placed it on the table and left. Clara stared at the rising steam.
"What do we do about this?"
Eris looked at the bowl. Then the door. Then back at the bowl. "I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"How would I know?" It came out more flustered than she meant.
"Do they have a takeaway system?"
"Don't ask me."
"Then who do I ask?"
"Them."
"Who's them?"
"The café."
"Right." Clara nodded fast, then froze.
"Calm down."
"You come down."
"I'm trying."
"So am I."
The ramen sat between them, steaming quietly, indifferent to the crisis around it.
"What if it gets cold?" Clara said.
"Clara."
"What?"
"We have a bigger problem."
"I know that."
"Then stop worrying about the ramen."
"I'm not worrying about the ramen. I'm worrying about Tyler's ramen."
Eris opened her mouth to argue and found, annoyingly, that she couldn't.
Clara grabbed the reservation papers and dropped them right back on the table. "We need to go."
"We do."
"But we have to pay."
"Yes."
"And what about the ramen?"
"I don't know."
"And what if they hurt him?"
"I don't know."
"And what if-"
"Clara."
"What?"
"You're panicking."
"So are you."
Eris didn't answer, because she couldn't deny that either.
- - - -
The noise from the other tables had blurred into a low, comfortable murmur-cups touching saucers, the hiss of the kitchen, occasional laughter from somewhere near the window. Clara stood at the counter while Eris finished paying.
"That's everything," the attendant said.
Eris slipped the receipt into her bag. "Thank you."
"You're welcome."
Clara turned toward the entrance.
"Come on. We should find Tyler."
They had barely crossed half the café when the door opened.
The bell chimed.
Tyler stepped inside without looking back.
His uniform was still perfectly in place, aside from a slight crease near his sleeve. His expression hadn't changed. Calm. Almost bored.
The room gradually fell silent.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a neatly folded handkerchief.
Without saying a word, he began wiping his knuckles.
His footsteps were quiet against the floor.
When he reached his table, he pulled out his chair and sat down as though he had just returned from getting a drink.
Then he leaned back, looked toward the window, and sighed.
Annoying.
He folded the handkerchief once, tucked it back into his pocket, and look towards his Ramen.
"Oh, they're fast."
Clara blinked.
Eris stared at him.
He picked up the chopsticks.
"Time to slurp."
He separated them and leaned over the bowl.
For a moment, neither girl knew what to say.
Tyler took his first bite.
Then his second.
Clara looked at Eris.
Eris looked at Tyler.
Finally, Eris spoke.
"Tyler."
"Hm?"
"What happened outside?"
"Nothing."
Her eyes narrowed.
"You were outside with three people."
"They wanted to talk."
"And?"
"We talked."
"You were gone for several minutes."
Tyler lifted another portion of noodles.
"Apparently."
Eris stared at his hand.
There was a faint mark across one knuckle.
"What happened to your hand?"
Tyler glanced at it.
"Nothing."
"You were wiping it with a handkerchief."
"Some dirt."
"Dirt?"
"Probably."
Eris's expression hardened.
"That isn't what I asked."
Tyler swallowed.
"They weren't going to leave it alone."
"So what did you do?"
"Made them leave."
"How?"
Tyler looked at her.
"Does it matter?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because I was worried."
The answer came so quickly that Tyler paused.
He looked at her.
Eris's voice remained firm.
"You disappear with three strangers and come back wiping your hand, and you expect me to sit here and pretend nothing happened?"
"I didn't say nothing happened."
"Then tell me."
Tyler looked down at the ramen.
He could already feel his patience thinning.
"It was handled."
"That's not an answer."
"It doesn't need to be."
"Tyler."
"Eris."
"You could have been hurt."
"I wasn't."
"That isn't the point."
"Then what is?"
"You."
Tyler's eyebrows tightened.
"I don't understand."
"Of course you don't."
She leaned closer.
"You keep deciding what everyone should know and what everyone shouldn't know."
"Because I know what I'm doing."
"You always say that."
"Because it's true."
Eris stared at him.
"You think because you know what you're doing, everyone else has to follow whatever you decide?"
Tyler didn't answer immediately.
His eyes dropped to the bowl.
Then he said quietly, "In this case, yes."
The words changed the air around the table.
Clara went still.
Eris stared at him.
"What?"
"I said I know how to handle it."
"No. You said you get to decide."
"Because I do."
"Why?"
Tyler's patience finally cracked.
"Because I know what happens when things aren't handled properly."
Eris frowned.
"What does that even mean?"
Tyler stopped.
He couldn't explain.
Not the future.
Not the memories.
Not why this café itself was already a problem.
He couldn't tell her that he was never supposed to be here.
That, in the life he remembered, this entire afternoon had never happened.
That he had only come because she asked him.
That one unexpected meeting could become another decision, and another decision could become something bigger.
He couldn't tell her any of it.
So he gave her the only answer he could.
"You don't need to know every detail."
Eris's eyes hardened.
"There it is."
Tyler frowned.
"What?"
"You decide what everyone needs to know."
"That's not what I'm doing."
"It is."
"No, it isn't."
"You just said it."
"I said I handled it."
"And I said that's not enough."
Tyler's chopsticks touched the bowl.
"Then what do you want?"
"The truth."
Tyler looked directly at her.
"You have the truth."
"No. I have whatever part of the truth you decided I was allowed to hear."
Silence.
Tyler's fingers tightened around the chopsticks.
For a moment, he considered saying something else.
Then he stopped himself.
There was no point.
The conversation was going nowhere.
He looked away.
"I shouldn't have come here in the first place."
The moment he said it, Eris went quiet.
Tyler didn't notice the change immediately.
To him, the statement was obvious.
He shouldn't have come.
This café wasn't part of the life he remembered.
He had only come because Eris wanted him to.
That made the whole situation a variable.
And now the confrontation outside has created another one.
But Eris heard something else.
Her expression slowly changed.
"You shouldn't have come?"
Tyler looked up.
"What?"
"You said you shouldn't have come."
"Yeah."
"Why?"
Tyler hesitated.
He could not tell her.
Because I was never supposed to be here.
Because this place wasn't part of the life I remember.
None of that could leave his mouth.
So he remained silent.
Eris watched him.
For her, the silence answered the question in the worst possible way.
She had asked him to come.
She had wanted him there.
She had been the reason he was sitting at this table.
And now he was saying he shouldn't have come.
She looked down.
Tyler expected another question.
Instead, Eris pushed her chair back.
The scrape against the floor made both Tyler and Clara look up.
"Where are you going?" Tyler asked.
"The washroom."
She walked away.