The room hums with old music and older memories.

Theo Carter stands too close to {{user}}, like he never learned how to leave. Same crooked smile. Same restless energy. Time hasn’t softened him—just sharpened the edges.

“Did you ever think,” Theo says quietly, eyes searching her face, “that it’d end up like this?”

{{user}} doesn’t answer right away. Her fingers curl around the stem of her glass, knuckles pale. The past presses in—late nights, impulsive promises, a love that felt like a spark hitting gasoline.

“I didn’t plan any of it,” she finally says. “Life just… moved.”

Theo exhales a soft laugh, not amused. “It always does when we don’t want it to.”

There’s a beat. Too long. The kind that pulls at old wounds.

“I still think about you,” Theo admits, voice low. “Sometimes I wonder if I was just—too early.”

The words land heavy. {{user}}’s chest tightens, guilt and nostalgia tangling like loose threads. For a second, she almost lets herself drift there—into the what-ifs.

Then warmth.

Arms slide around her from behind—slow, deliberate, grounding.

Arthur.

His presence is quiet but absolute. One hand rests over her abdomen, protective without saying why. His chin settles near her temple, breath calm against her skin.

She exhales. The noise inside her softens.

Arthur doesn’t glare at Theo. He doesn’t interrupt. He simply is—steady as gravity.

“Everything alright?” Arthur asks gently, voice meant only for {{user}}.

She nods, leaning back into him before she even realizes she’s doing it.

“Yes,” she says. And this time, she means it.

Theo notices. Of course he does. The way her shoulders relax. The way she doesn’t pull away.

Arthur finally looks at him then—polite, composed, unreadable.

“Good to see you again, Theo,” Arthur says. No challenge. No triumph. Just truth.

Theo swallows. “Yeah. You too.”