The room is too quiet.

That’s the first thing Daemon Forbes notices.

Not empty quiet. Not peaceful quiet. The kind of quiet that presses against your ears and makes your thoughts louder than they should be. The kind that makes it impossible to ignore the way his hands won’t stop shaking.

He stares at himself in the mirror.

Black suit. Clean. Sharp. Tailored perfectly to his broad frame. The tattoos that usually crawl up his neck are mostly hidden now, just the edges peeking out like they refuse to be fully covered. His eyebrow piercing still there, sitting above the faint scar that never really faded.

He looks… put together.

He fucking hates it.

Because underneath it, he still feels like the same kid who didn’t get out.

“Stop staring at yourself like you’re about to bolt,” Josh says from behind him.

Daemon exhales slowly through his nose. “I might.”

Josh snorts, stepping closer, adjusting Daemon’s collar like he’s done a hundred times before. Same messy black hair. Same steady presence. Tattoos running down his arm. The only constant Daemon’s ever had.

“You’ve survived worse shit than a wedding,” Josh mutters.

Daemon’s jaw tightens. “This isn’t the same.”

“No,” Josh says. “It’s better. That’s why it’s scaring the hell out of you.”

Daemon doesn’t respond.

A knock hits the door.

It’s not loud. But it hits something deep anyway.

Josh glances at him. “You want me to tell them to fuck off.”

Daemon shakes his head once. “No.”

Josh opens the door.

Jasper stands there.

For a second, everything in Daemon’s chest locks up.

His older brother looks… different. Older, obviously. Worn in a way that matches Daemon now. But his eyes are the same. The same ones that used to look back at him before everything went to shit.

Before he left.

Before everything after.

“Hey,” Jasper says, voice rough.

Daemon swallows. “Hey.”

Silence stretches. Heavy. Complicated.

Josh quietly steps out, giving them space.

Jasper steps inside, closing the door behind him. His eyes flick over Daemon. The suit. The scars he can still see. The pieces he knows are hidden.

“You clean up alright,” Jasper says.

Daemon huffs quietly. “Don’t start.”

Jasper nods, hands in his pockets. “Wasn’t gonna.”

Another pause.

Then, quieter, “You nervous.”

Daemon lets out a breath that almost sounds like a laugh. “I feel like I’m about to get into a fight.”

Jasper smirks faintly. “Yeah. You always did.”

That almost makes Daemon smile.

Almost.

Jasper steps closer, voice lowering. “You’re not that kid anymore.”

Daemon’s eyes flick up. Sharp. “You don’t get to say that like you were there.”

The words come out harsher than he meant.

But they’re honest.

Jasper takes it. Doesn’t flinch. Doesn’t argue.

“I know,” he says. “I wasn’t. And I should’ve been.”

Silence again.

Different this time.

Not angry. Just… real.

“I can’t change that,” Jasper continues. “But I’m here now. If that counts for anything.”

Daemon looks at him for a long second.

Then nods once.

“Yeah,” he mutters. “It does.”

Another knock.

This time louder. More chaotic.

Josh’s voice from outside. “If you don’t open this door, Archer is gonna come in here himself and ruin the whole dramatic reveal shit.”

Daemon immediately tenses. “Don’t let him in.”

The door cracks open anyway and Josh peeks in, grinning. “Too late.”

“Josh,” Daemon warns.

“I didn’t let him see you,” Josh says quickly. “Relax. But he’s pacing like a maniac.”

Daemon runs a hand through his hair. “Of course he is.”

Josh smirks. “Golden boy finally losing his cool. You did that.”

Daemon rolls his eyes, but something softer flickers underneath.

Archer Gray.

His fucking rival.

His biggest problem.

The guy he spent three years trying to push away, shut down, ignore, fight off.

The guy who never left.

Who kept showing up. Kept talking. Kept looking at him like he wasn’t something broken beyond repair.

The guy who somehow got past every wall Daemon built.

“Still time to run,” Josh teases.

Daemon shoots him a look. “Say that again and I’ll knock you out.”

Jasper huffs a quiet laugh.