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"Did she tell you soht, how it had felt like he’d interrupted soether

"After she finished hyperventilating fro," Quan said

"She was hyperventilating?" he heard himself ask His stomach dropped, and coldness prickled over him What kind of ass was he that he hadn’t known and hadn’t been there for her? He should have been the one Not Quan

"Too hts You shouldn’t have taken her there"

Everything clicked together then "She’s autistic"

"You disappointed?" Quan asked with a tilt of his head

"No" The word came out hoarse, and he cleared his throat before he continued "But I wish she’d told me" Why hadn’t she told hi to the club? She ht Shit, it , the piano, his sisters shouting, everything new

"She just wants you to like her"

The words punched Michael in the sto this didn’t impact that at all She was still the same person Except he understood her better now At least, on a conscious level, he did

Subconsciously, he felt like he’d always known Because he’d grown up with Khai, he kne to interact with her He didn’t even have to think about it That had to be why she could relax with hied sensation buzzed through hi his hairs on end Maybe he didn’t have to end their arrangee of her Because she was autistic, maybe she really could use a practice relationship before she entered a real one Maybe he was the perfect one for her to practice with Maybe he could help her for real

He didn’t have to take the entire fifty grand Come to think of it, he didn’t have to take any of it He had credit cards He couldher without financial motivation, he’d finally prove he wasn’t his dad

He yanked his gear off and tossed it on the floor in a careless heap "Put that away for o"

• • •

Stella’s phone beeped, dragging her out from the world of her data Her office materialized, her desk, the computer screens with the command prompt and all the clever code she’d written, her s, the darkness beyond them

The alert on her phone said, "Dinnertime"

She opened a desk drawer and pulled out a protein bar Herone of these for dinner, but she didn’t care She just wanted to work

Absently chewing on the cardboard-y chocolate orithood Maybe some of her best work

Her phone buzzed, and the screen lit with a text e frohts on at 6PM on a Saturday?

She dropped her protein bar and stood up to look out theA fa lot She ied out of view, too hue Come down We need to talk

She sank back into her chair This was it He’d come to end it Her thumbs shook as she coe

I want to talk to you in person

She threw her phone onto her desk and crossed her arms She was tired and embarrassed She didn’t need to witness the dissolution of their arranges he wanted to talk to her about? More things she’d done wrong?

Maybe she shouldn’t have apologized to his et anything right?

She ran her hands over her hair and atteize for apologizing?

The phone buzzed yet again, and she flipped it over with the tip of a tre to stay out here until you come down