Page 158 of Rookie Rules

He could keep the lesson.

After practice, Finn asked whether he wanted lunch with the line. The invitation was ordinary enough to refuse without consequence. Luca almost did. Rowan would not be there; Owen had kept him for treatment and reassessment. Even so, the thought of sitting at their usual table made Luca's chest tighten.

Then Jace called from halfway down the corridor. "Bennett, I require a witness. Laurent claims soup is a complete lunch."

"It is if you order enough soup," Finn said.

"That is multiple lunches."

Luca joined them.

He did not turn lunch into proof that he was healed. He laughed twice, listened more than he spoke, and left when the conversation shifted to afternoon errands. No one asked why he was quiet. No one required entertainment as the price of staying at the table.

At home, the apartment still held unopened boxes against the dining-room wall. Luca had told himself he would deal with them after camp, then after the first road trip, then when the place began to feel permanent.

He opened the smallest one.

Inside were framed photographs, a chipped blue bowl his mother had packed despite his protests, and three books Theo had given him with insulting notes inside the covers. Luca placed the family photograph on the shelf. The bowl went beside his keys. He stacked the books where he could reach them.

The room did not transform. It became inhabited by one more deliberate choice.

Claire's reply arrived while he flattened the empty box. Boreal had accepted the earlier call time and advance approval for the social segment. Luca added the production day to his calendar, then sent Theo the final rider as promised. Work settled into its proper size: important, manageable, and not a referendum on who he was allowed to become.

He could keep growing. He could build a life that did not function as a waiting area.

And he could still keep the door closed until Rowan knew how to enter without asking Luca to disappear.

Chapter 25: Down

By the second shift, Rowan knew the right side was worse than he had admitted.

He had begun changing other things before warmup.

That morning, after Owen's functional testing, Rowan had asked Vale for five minutes with the office door open. The coach did not look surprised.

"Any correction involving Bennett that is not routine game feedback goes through you," Rowan said. "Video room, third person present. No closed-door mentorship until I can prove I will not confuse a personal reaction with a hockey read."

Vale set down his coffee. "Are you telling me there is a conduct problem?"

"I am telling you I created one. I corrected the right play because I was angry with the player. It will not happen again, but my certainty is not an adequate safeguard."

The admission left Rowan nowhere to hide inside intention.

"Does Bennett want a different mentor?" Vale asked.

"I have not asked him. You should. Without me in the room."

Vale studied him for a long time. "Done. You remain his center and captain. Development reviews come through me until we reassess."

"Thank you."

"That was not absolution."

"I know."

Outside the office, Finn waited beside the coffee station. He held out a cup without comment.

Rowan took it. "Friend."