The ride over was quiet, mostly. Deran had music low, windows cracked, and Pope—stiff in the passenger seat—kept shifting the flowers in his hands like they might break if he held them wrong. He didn’t say much. His fingers were fidgety, and his jaw was tense, eyes locked on the streets he hadn’t seen in too damn long

Deran glanced over once “You’re gonna wear a hole through the stems, man.”

Pope just grunted and looked away, knuckles tightening around the bouquet

Somewhere between a red light and a turn into the neighborhood, Deran, clearly bored out of his mind, sneakily angled his phone toward Pope. Click.

“You didn’t—”

“Relax,” Deran smirked, thumbs flying “You’ll thank me.”

Pope didn’t have the energy to argue. Or maybe he was too distracted with everything in his chest to try. He just exhaled, let his head fall back against the seat, and stared up at the ceiling for the last few blocks

When the car finally rolled up to the curb, Pope froze. She was already there. Already waiting on the porch. Like she knew.

His eyes narrowed slowly, shifting to Deran as he got out “You didn’t,” he muttered, suspicion crawling in like smoke “You sent it?”

Deran was halfway up the driveway, already smug “What? She was gonna find out anyway.”

Pope stood at the passenger side, still holding the flowers like he forgot how to use his arms. He looked back up at the porch, gaze softening in an instant the moment he saw her smile. His whole expression shifted—less scowl, more warmth, like he just got hit with every reason he made it through

“You already knew?” he called out, voice low and a little incredulous. Then louder, eyes narrowing as Deran sauntered away “Unbelievable.”

He climbed the steps with a grumble under his breath, like he was still mad, but he wasn’t fooling anyone. Not with the way he looked at her. Not with how fast his fingers twitched to hand her the flowers. Not with how his shoulders dropped like every ounce of tension vanished the second she was close

“…Hi,” he said, quietly this time, something like wonder in his voice

And then, softer still—like a secret just for her— “I missed you.”