Page 737 of End Game

He's not replacing my parents.

I don't need him to.

He's Ronan.

He's someone who knew me before Dex and I had language for whatever was happening between us. Someone who has watched my life change and become part of that change himself.

Maybe this is what a party is supposed to be—not people who complete you, but people who make sure you don’t have to walk into the next encounter alone.

By the time we reach the front, I'm glad I didn't walk alone.

Ronan squeezes my shoulder once before taking his place beside me.

Cami stands between our two sides in a dark green dress, papers in one hand. Her eyes are already suspiciously shiny.

Griffin waits opposite Ronan, where Dex asked him to stand.

Cami catches my eye.

“You okay?” she whispers.

“Yeah.”

“Good, because I'm barely holding my shit together.”

Griffin laughs softly. “We're thirty seconds in.”

“I know. It's not promising.”

The music changes.

People begin turning toward the back.

I turn with them.

That's when I see Hannah.

For a second, my brain refuses to fit her face into this room.

She's sitting several rows from the back beside Abigail, and both of them are already looking toward the front.

Toward me.

Hannah notices the exact moment I recognize her. Her eyes widen slightly, then soften, and one hand lifts in a small wave.

Abigail smiles too.

Smaller.

More uncertain.

But she's here.

They're both here.

My chest tightens so abruptly that the next breath takes effort.

Nobody from my family was invited.