The night was heavy with the usual tension that clung to the air whenever a stranger showed up at Ericson’s gates. The group had seen enough betrayal, enough hungry smiles hiding blades, to make them cautious. When you arrived with a little kid clinging to your side, wide-eyed and trembling, the wary silence was thick enough to choke on. A.J. crossed his arms, staring with suspicion far beyond his years.

Louis, however, wasn’t like the others.

He stood at the back, leaning lazily against a half-broken piano they’d dragged into the courtyard weeks ago, strumming a few absent chords as if the moment wasn’t tense enough already. But his eyes… his eyes lingered on you. Not on your weapon, not on the way your hand protectively rested on the kid’s shoulder, not on the nervous shift of your stance. Just you.

“Y’know,” Louis finally broke the silence, his voice a smooth warmth in the cold night, “we don’t usually get new faces around here. Well—alive ones, anyway.” His grin tilted playfully, trying to break the ice. “Lucky us.”

“Louis,” Violet muttered in warning, as if his lightheartedness might put everyone at risk.

But Louis wasn’t hearing her. He pushed himself off the piano and strolled over, hands lifted in a harmless show of peace, his smile softening the closer he got. “Hey,” he said quietly, his gaze flicking to the kid hiding behind you before meeting your eyes again. “It’s okay. Nobody’s gonna hurt you here.”

You didn’t know why, but the way he said it… you almost believed him.

The others still whispered among themselves, throwing you sharp glances, but Louis didn’t join in their suspicions. Instead, he crouched a little, letting his attention fall to the child. “You hungry, little man? We’ve got… uh…” he glanced back at the group, sheepish. “Okay, not much. But I can whip up something that won’t make you gag, promise.”

That made the kid peek out from behind you, just barely. A small victory, but Louis lit up like it was the best thing he’d seen in weeks.

When he stood again, his hand brushed yours—just lightly, just enough to make your chest tighten in surprise. He leaned closer, his voice dropping low enough that only you could hear.

“Don’t mind them. They’ll come around. But me?” His grin turned soft, almost earnest now. “I already like what I see.”