I jerked awake from my sleep silently, almost letting out a gasp until I remembered where I was, or rather, who was with me.

Looking to my left, I watched nervously as my mom grumbled in her sleep, still clinging onto the fabric of my sleeve. I waited silently for a few seconds, before she let out a quiet sigh and sunk deeper into her pillow.

I let out a breath that I hadn’t realised I was holding, grateful that my shuffling hadn’t woken my mom up. I hadn’t wanted to let her sleep in my bed at first, but with how easily my parents accepted my request to let Jamie stay with us for a while, I felt like it would be unfair to deny my mom from trying to keep an eye on me.

I sighed silently once more and looked around the room. From the dull light seeping in through the window, I could guess it was either mid-evening or early morning. Since I’d crawled into bed in the late afternoon, and I didn’t feel like I’d slept for half a day, I assumed that it was the former.

I wanted to go back to sleep, but after a few seconds of laying in my own sweat, I decided it was impossible. My skin was too clammy, my mouth too dry, and my throat filled with phlegm. I coughed as quietly as I could to try and clear it, but it didn’t make much of a difference. My throat still felt uncomfortably tight.

I twisted my head to the side in hopes that the new position would make it easier to breathe, when I realised that I could see a little bit of lamplight peeking into my room from underneath my door.

While it shouldn’t have come as a surprise to me that someone would be awake, seeing as it was only mid-evening, I had a sudden realisation.

I doubted that my dad would be asleep like my mom was. Though he had accepted my request to let Jamie stay with us, he hadn’t hid the fact that he was uncomfortable with it. And if I was being honest, Jamie hadn’t been too enthused about the idea of staying with my family either, even if it was a much better alternative to the idea of staying in the tavern. He hadn’t been able to look either of my parents in the eyes, and hadn’t said a word to either of them.

Despite this fact, I had left the two of them alone for what was probably at least a few hours now, while I slept peacefully with my mom.

I shuffled away from my mom as discreetly as I could, gently prying her fingers from my clothes before sliding slowly away from her. For a moment, I thought she would stir, but as I watched her grumble in her sleep and shift around, she thankfully nestled her head into her pillow, clutching at the blanket in place of my sleeve.

It felt a little cruel to risk having her wake up to realise I wasn’t there, but she needed the sleep.

I crept towards the door as silently as I could and opened it just enough that I could see outside into the living room.

Like I’d expected, my dad and Jamie were both wide awake. My dad was sitting at our dining table with his hands folded politely in front of him while Jamie was sitting down on the temporary bedding that we’d laid out for him in the living room. While Jamie’s head was hung slightly, making it ambiguous whether he was staring down into his lap or if he was staring at the wall, I doubted he was unaware of the fact that my dad was staring silently at the back of his head.

I watched the scene for a few seconds before it became clear to me that they must have been frozen like this for a while, and weren’t likely to do anything else before I came out.

I slowly pushed open the door, so as not to startle them, but even though the door creaked slightly, neither of them acted like they heard me. Even when I stepped out of my room and closed my door behind me, there was no reaction.

I wasn’t sure if they hadn’t heard me, or if they were ignoring me for whatever reason, so I decided to clear my throat.

“Jesus!” and “David!” were both hissed simultaneously as the two jumped and twisted their heads to look at me.

I automatically raised a finger to my lips and shushed them. “Mom’s still sleeping,” I hissed. “Keep it down.”

My dad and Jamie both looked embarrassed, though I wasn’t sure if it was because of the fact that they’d both been taken off guard, or if it was because of the possibility of them waking my mom. I turned around and cracked open the door slightly to check on her, but after watching her sleeping body for a few seconds, it didn’t seem like she’d been disturbed.

I let out a sigh of relief before closing the door again and turning around.

The three of us stared at each other in silence, with my presence clearly doing nothing to alleviate the awkward tension that had built up. I didn’t know what to say, but I eventually tried to smile, to try and alleviate the tension somewhat. I’m not sure it was a very convincing smile, but it prompted Jamie to try the same, giving me a strained look that I could vaguely interpret as an awkward grin.

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“Couldn’t sleep?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I said. “You?”

His eyes shifted slightly towards the side, where my dad was sitting. “Me neither,” he said, before falling into a long silence.

I glanced at my dad. Now that his surprise had worn off, his face returned to a neutral frown as he stared openly at Jamie, who seemed determined to pretend like he hadn’t noticed.

I wondered for a moment if I should address it, before my dad spoke up.

“Are you okay, Lena?” he asked, still keeping his eyes locked onto Jamie.

“Yeah,” I said, a little confused by the vagueness of the question. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

My dad finally tore his eyes away from Jamie to give me an analytical look. Immediately I felt embarrassed by the stupid question.

“I mean, I know a bunch of crazy stuff happened today,” I said quickly. “But everything turned out fine in the end. I’m fine.”

Jamie gave me a relieved smile, but my dad’s frown only deepened.

“What about you, dad?” I asked. “Are you okay?”

Instead of answering me, he looked down at his hands, taking a deep breath before turning back to stare at Jamie.

“What do you plan to do next?” he asked.

Though the question didn’t seem directed at me, Jamie was too determined not to make eye contact with my dad to notice.

“Are you asking me, or Jamie?” I asked, to make sure.

Jamie seemed surprised by the question, turning to see my dad staring directly at him.

“Hopefully just for Jamie,” my dad replied. I frowned, but before I could ask what he meant by that, he continued to talk. “What do you plan to do, now that your business in our town is finished?”

“What?” Jamie asked. “Oh. Well, I mean, I haven’t had too much time to think about it.”

“It’s been a stressful few weeks for you,” I said, giving Jamie a reassuring smile. “You can take as much time as you need, right Dad?”

My dad made a complicated face that I couldn’t quite decipher and stared down at his hands again. He stared down for a few seconds before he grabbed his face and let out a long sigh.

“You can stay for as long as you feel is necessary, Jamie,” he said. “I’m just interested in knowing if you have any ideas for your future plans. Do you plan to stay in our village indefinitely?”

“No, no. I couldn’t impose,” Jamie said, waving his hands at my dad, seeming to be more willing to look at him now that their positions had switched, with my dad now being the one determined not to make eye contact. “And yeah, I do have a few ideas. They just seem a little silly to say out loud.”

“Nobody here will think you’re being silly,” my dad replied. “Feel free to share these ideas of yours.”

Even if the way he said it sounded a bit too solemn to be reassuring, Jamie scratched at his head in embarrassment and the hint of a smile appeared on his face.

“Well, I mean,” he said, letting out a little laugh as he continued to scratch at his head. “Like I said, it’s a bit silly of an idea, but ever since I learned how the Mediators were trying to kill me this entire time, I felt kind of bad about the fact that the other Otherworlders have been ruining our reputation. I thought that maybe I could travel the world, doing stuff to mend the bad reputation that the other Otherworlders have left behind and make sure the current Otherworlders don’t go down a bad path either.”

“You’re going to talk to the other Otherworlders?” I asked, a little sceptical of the idea.

“Yeah,” Jamie said, seeming to be unaware of my hesitation. “If they were as lost and confused as I was when I first got here, I’m not surprised they might go a bit crazy. I mean, I might not be able to stop people like that Plague King guy, but I have to try, right?”

He laughed a bit, but his smile dropped quickly when it became obvious that he was forcing it.

“It’s a noble goal,” I said.

“It is,” my dad agreed, surprising me. “But it is a dangerous one.”

“Well, I’m apparently pretty much invincible, so it should be fine? Though I’m not sure how much that would stay true when I’m dealing with other pretty-much-invincible people.”

Jamie let out another dry laugh before realising that nobody else in the room was laughing. I gave him a small smile to try and reassure him, but my dad didn’t seem to be interested in such a thing. Taking a deep breath, he seemed to steel himself before looking up.

“I’ll be frank,” he said. “When I said your goals are dangerous, I didn’t mean that it would be dangerous for you.”

“What did you mean, then?” Jamie asked.

“He means it would be dangerous for anyone who might choose to accompany you,” I answered on behalf of my dad. “Isn’t that right?”

My dad looked up at me and sighed.

“You’re a grown woman, Lena. Regardless of what your mother and I might want, we can’t force you to stay here with us. You’re old enough to make your own choices, but it frightens me that you’ll make a choice that will get you killed. Again.”

Though he didn’t direct the last word at Jamie, any traces of a smile evaporated instantly from his face as he looked down into his lap.

“Again with this?” I asked, with a frustrated sigh. “I told you, dad. I’m. Fine. Look. I’m standing here talking to you right now, aren’t I? I’m alive, dad.”

I patted my chest for emphasis and looked sideways at Jamie with a grin.

“Besides, even if I do die again, Jamie can just fix me right up.”

My words didn’t seem to do anything to reassure him, as his gaze sunk even lower.

The silence stretched out between the three of us. I wasn’t sure how long it lasted, or what even prompted it to end. Eventually, my dad sighed and looked up, his eyes unfocused but pointing vaguely in Jamie’s direction.

“Jamie,” he said, his voice monotone and quiet. “You may stay in my home with me and my family, but I would like to ask you to follow one condition.”

Jamie looked up. “What is it?”

“Stay for at least a week and think about what you want to do next. Think about how it might affect you and the people that care about you. Please.”

I wasn’t entirely sure whether the request was actually directed at Jamie or not, but he gave my dad a cautious nod anyways.