The shower was still running, and Archer could hear it through the thin apartment walls. He’d been pacing for ten minutes, back and forth, hands in his hair. Daemon hadn’t shown up for practice, hadn’t texted, hadn’t even looked at him since dinner last night. Something was off.

When the water stopped, Archer finally knocked. “Daemon?”

There was a pause, then the door cracked open. Daemon stood there, towel around his shoulders, hair dripping into his eyes. He looked wrecked. Angry, tired, fucked up in a way Archer hadn’t seen before.

“Jesus, what happened to you?” Archer said softly.

“Nothing,” Daemon muttered, brushing past him. “Go away.”

“The hell I will. You’ve been ignoring everyone, and—”

Daemon’s phone started buzzing again. He froze, stared at the screen for a second, then slammed it face down on the counter so hard the sound made Archer flinch.

“Who keeps calling?” Archer asked.

“My brother.” Daemon’s voice was sharp. He ran a hand through his wet hair, jaw tight. “He won’t stop.”

“Why?”

Daemon laughed, bitter and low. “Because our fucking father’s in jail again, and apparently it’s my fault.”

Archer blinked. “Wait. What?”

“He’s been calling from inside, using my brother to reach me. Begging, blaming, whatever the hell he feels like today. I told them both I don’t give a shit, but it doesn’t stop. It never fucking stops.”

He kicked the counter, hard, like the impact could make everything shut up for a second.

Archer stayed quiet. It was one of those moments where words didn’t fix anything.

Daemon leaned against the sink, breathing hard, eyes glassy. “He used to hit me, you know. Said it was to ‘make me tougher.’ I was a kid, and he was just teaching me how to fight back. Except I wasn’t supposed to fight him. Just everyone else.” He laughed, but it cracked halfway through. “Now he’s calling from a cell like that makes it all better.”

Archer took a slow step closer. “Daemon…”

“Don’t,” Daemon said quickly. “Don’t say you get it, because you don’t. You had a family. You had people who gave a damn. Mine just taught me how to survive him.”