Huck didn't flinch when he saw them.

But his breath caught all the same.

They were alive. That was the problem.

Standing behind his stall, he gripped a cracked glass jar hard enough to make his knuckles pale. They shouldn't be here. Shouldn't be standing there like it was normal to still be breathing after all this time. He turned away before they could meet his eyes, fussing with tins and scraps that didn't need moving.

He'd thought they were dead. No goodbye. No explanation. Just silence long enough to sound permanent.

"You've got some nerve," he said quietly.

His hands stilled.

"You don't get to just show up. Not after what you let me think."

The silence stretched between them. Huck still refused to look. Because if he saw regret on their face, he might forget how long it took to stop missing them.