Josh hung up. He looked Nikki up and down and sighed. "Why'd you have to get dressed? You look so much better without it."

  Nikki rolled her eyes. "You weren't wrong, I'm starving. Let's go already."

  He started toward the door, but hesitated. A moment later, he turned. With a quick burst of magic, he lifted open the window and popped out the screen. Nikki raised her eyebrows.

  "...What are you doing?"

  "We're going out the window." Josh shrugged. "It's an adventure or some shit, I don't know."

  Nikki stared at him, dumbstruck. He hoped she wouldn't ask any questions. After all, even if they had snuck into his house through a portal into his bedroom, it wasn't as if he'd ever given her any sense she might not be welcome in his home. Sure as hell wish this didn't make a difference…

  To his relief, she didn't say a word. Nikki climbed out onto the roof, and—with a little magic of her own—made an impossible leap from the edge of the roof across the fence and neatly onto the sidewalk outside. Josh grinned and followed her down, though his own leap wasn't quite so graceful. As he landed, he heard a satisfying click behind them. Nikki had closed his window and replaced the screen.

  "So where to?" asked Josh.

  "Would you hate me if I said fast food?"

  He winced. "A little?"

  "I adore your cooking and our garden, but honestly…" Nikki shrugged. "I'm on vacation, and I haven't had fast food in forever. Indulge your girlfriend."

  "In 'N Out, then?"

  "...What's In 'N Out?"

  Josh grinned. "Okay, time to educate you on fast food."

  They started walking, enjoying the buzz of the town around them, the neverending sprawl of Los Angeles. Nikki was looking everywhere, taking in the sights, fascinated by just how busy and packed the whole place was.

  "How the fuck do you sleep here?" she muttered. "It's so loud. Even Rallsburg wasn't close to this."

  "You slept just fine yesterday."

  Nikki shoved him playfully. "No thanks to you."

  "Can't exactly help that I snore, you know."

  "Hmm… well, we do have magic," said Nikki. "Maybe we can come up with something." She frowned as they waited for the next light to change, watching the cars speed by, furious horns blaring. "So why did we leave out the window, exactly?"

  "Well…" Josh sighed. He didn't want to lie to his girlfriend—notwithstanding a girlfriend who could both tell when he was lying and find out practically anything thanks to her unique magic. "Same reason I didn't just cook for you at home…"

  "Your parents don't have a clue about me, do they?" Nikki sighed. "You've been back a week Josh. Plenty of time to let them know you met somebody while you were out saving the world."

  "Fuck that. I didn't tell them anything about what I've been doing," Josh shot back. "It's more…"

  "Oh, don't tell me they're super-religious." Nikki sighed. The street light changed, and they started crossing, blasted by hot air from every car engine they passed. "Sorry. Should've known to marry you first."

  Josh frowned. He didn't exactly see eye-to-eye with his parents on religion, but at the same time, he didn't like this treatment from Nikki. "They wouldn't like you."

  "As if. I'm great."

  "You're goddamn perfect," said Josh. "But you're white."

  Nikki stopped halfway across the street. Her eyes widened slightly. Josh grabbed her hand and pulled her across to the other side, just in time for the light to switch back.

  "The fuck?"

  "Look, my parents have a thing. About dating white girls."

  "Racist-as-fuck thing?"

  "It's not racism," said Josh, annoyed.

  "Dude, you just said your parents hate white girls. That's fucking racism."

  How do I explain this to a sheltered white girl from a tiny middle-of-nowhere town? Too many fucking layers to deal with… "They don't hate white people, or white girls. That's not… it's more about history."

  "About history," drawled Nikki, looking skeptical.

  "There's a lot more here than like, just hating white people. They don't hate white people, it's just… complicated. It's hard to explain," said Josh, feeling suddenly exhausted. "And again, this is their view, not mine. I fucking love you, so would you give me a second to get my words straight here?"

  Nikki gasped a little. She stopped walking again out of shock, but with a very different expression on her face.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  "What?"

  "...You love me?" she asked in a small voice.

  "Yes?"

  "You, uhh…" Nikki shook her head, confused. "Nothing."

  "...You okay?" asked Josh, now seriously concerned. She was acting weird, especially coming off the conversation they'd just had.

  "...never said… before…" she muttered under her breath, not quite audible.

  "What?"

  "You never said that before!" Nikki snapped. "Caught me off guard, okay?"

  "...Oh." Josh shrugged. He hadn't even been thinking about it, the words had just slipped out, but as he thought for a second—yeah, it was true. "Well yeah. I love you."

  Her eyes blinked rapidly, trying to regain focus on him. "You know nobody's ever said that to me before, right?"

  "No?" Josh frowned. "Nobody's ever said that to me either. Except my parents."

  "Well…" Nikki sighed. "Thanks. I…" She seemed to be building up to something. Josh wondered if she were going to say it back, but it didn't come. Eventually, she settled on something more mundane. "I hope your parents can deal with me being pale as fuck."

  "I'll make them deal," Josh promised. "Now let's get something to eat?"

  "God, yes, please."

  To Josh's relief, their food was as good as he hoped. It still didn't hold a candle to his own cooking, obviously, but Nikki was practically salivating over the burger and fries. He didn't hold it against her—variety was the greatest of spices, and damned if Josh wasn't going to take it as a challenge down the line. He'd show Nikki a real burger and fries, not fast food.

  "So…" said Nikki finally, as she started in on the second batch of fries—they'd plowed through the first and ordered a second in short order. "What does history mean, exactly?"

  "I…" Josh sighed. "Okay, like I said, it's complicated, right? And also yes, it's a bit racist, just not like…"

  His phone rang. Josh suppressed a shout of joy as he grabbed it and answered the call, without even looking. It was clearly too fast and Nikki could tell he was dodging the question, but in that moment, he sure didn't care.

  A familiar echoing voice greeted him. "Joshua?"

  "Saw you on TV today." Cinza, he mouthed at Nikki, whose suspicious look immediately faded into worried lines of concern. "You guys okay?"

  "Not exactly." Cinza's voice sounded incredibly tired. "We visited Ruby's father after the incident downtown. He was… unpleasant."

  "Not surprised."

  "We're hoping you've already begun exploring options to solve this mess, legally speaking?"

  "You know me," said Josh. "Can't leave well enough alone."

  "I appreciate it," said Cinza, and he could hear the warmth in her voice. "When might we expect to hear from you?"

  "Right now, actually. I called Rachel right after you guys left the hotel. We're exploring options, but right now, we think our best bet is to get Ruby properly emancipated."

  "Which requires what?"

  "A few miracles, to be honest," he sighed. "Rachel will be in touch with more details. Ever thought about starting a school?"

  "I'm sorry?"

  "Nevermind," said Josh. He didn't feel like diving into that quite yet, especially if it turned out to be excessive—or impossible. "I know it sucks, but I'd keep Ruby lying low for now. Any time she goes out is asking for trouble."

  "That won't be an issue. Neither of us has any desire to leave the Greywood again."

  "Like you wanted to head out today?" asked Josh, rolling his eyes. "Your desires and the world aren't exactly on the same wavelength, Cinza."

  "A shame. It'd save us a great deal of time."

  "Can I talk to her?" asked Nikki suddenly.

  "Huh?"

  "Is that Nikki?" asked Cinza.

  "...Yeah. She's with me."

  "Please," said Nikki. She held out her hand expectantly.

  Josh nodded. He handed the phone over to her, and started gathering up the trash from their meal. Nikki started off asking after Ruby, her voice dropping lower. He gave her some privacy, cleaning up the trash, using the restroom, and finally going outside to wait in the open air—he couldn't exactly call it fresh after living in the Olympic Forest so long—of Norwalk.

  Probably just Greycloak stuff… Or it's just friend stuff. Ruby's her friend, and Cinza's her… something. I don't know what the fuck to call that relationship. Mentor? Parental figure? Leader? Or just friends, I dunno. Nothing really fits.

  He watched the cars rush by, leaning against the wall near the front door. A guy lit up a cigarette nearby, far closer to the front doors than allowed. Josh considered asking the guy to move, before realizing—he'd been that guy. It wasn't cigarettes, but still… he'd done much the same. He wasn't in any position to tell the guy off.

  And yet I'm advising people who can make decisions that affect the whole goddamn world… No pressure or anything. I'm crazy under-qualified for this job. Crazy underpaid, too.

  "Josh?"

  Nikki was back. Josh opened his eyes—he hadn't even realized he'd closed them, leaning against the wall with his hands in his jacket pockets. He took the phone from Nikki's outstretched hand and put it away.

  "All good?" he asked.

  "Not really, but we'll get there." She frowned. "I need you to get me a ride home."

  "...What?"

  "It's not 'cause of your parents," she added quickly. "I mean, that's still not great, but… I gotta be with my family. Cinza asked me to come home."

  Josh sighed. "I figured she might."

  "They need me," said Nikki quietly. "I'm too valuable. I gotta go."

  "Okay." He nodded.

  "Just like that?"

  "The fuck am I gonna do, keep you here?" Josh rolled his eyes. "If you gotta go, you gotta go. Hell if I'm gonna get Cinza after me either." He pulled his phone back out again and scrolled down to the Ls in his contacts. "She'll want you back ASAP, too."

  "Yeah…" Nikki hugged him, to Josh's surprise. They weren't exactly big on hugs, but in that moment, it felt pretty good. "...Love you," she whispered behind his ear, and it sent a tingle through his body.

  "Love you too." Josh kissed her through her hair before finally hitting dial. It took a few rings, but finally someone answered.

  "Joshua… it's quite late," said either Lily or Kendra, obviously annoyed.

  "Sorry, it's sort of an emergency. I swear this is the last one for a while." He winced as he realized his mistake. "I kinda forgot it's two in the morning there. Sorry if I woke you up."

  "You did not. I…" She paused. "I do not sleep in quite the same way Kenni does anymore."

  "...Well someday you're gonna have to explain what that means." Josh hugged Nikki a little tighter. "I need you to make a portal back to the Greywood for Nikki. Cinza wanted her home as fast as possible."

  "...It will be difficult without my sister, but I should be able to. Where are you, precisely?"

  Josh looked around and rattled off the street address, as well as a spot in an alley nearby where he was certain they wouldn't be noticed. Lily thanked him and hung up before he could say another word. As they walked into the alley, the doorway appeared in the wall. Nikki pulled it open, revealing the void pathway inside.

  "So…" said Josh.

  "Yeah."

  "I'll write you," he added, grinning slightly.

  "You better, dammit," said Nikki. "And if you don't sign every single one with 'I love you', I'm coming back here to beat you up. Got it?"

  "Got it."

  She leaned up and kissed him, then hurried through the door, heading back home. It disappeared in moments, leaving only a plain brick wall behind—totally ordinary, where only an instant before, there had been a doorway leading to any number of places thousands of miles away, an impossibility of physics made manifest by a woman who was never born, sitting in a mansion all the way on the other side of the world.

  Josh stared at the plain red bricks for a very long time, before finally turning away and beginning the slow walk home.