YENA

It’d been a while since I really had anywhere to go.

Not that volunteering at the nursing home was anything fancy that I needed to get prettied up for. But it was nice to have an excuse to put some makeup and cute clothes on.

And it was also nice to just have somewhere different to go. Something different to do.

Because although my upcoming travel plans were nerve-wracking, I was also getting really, really bored at Tina’s house.

I mean, I’d been working out a lot. And that was fun enough.

But… princess life had certainly been more eventful.

I found myself missing my date nights with Nolan. All the cool places he would take me to.

I really took that for granted, back when we were together. He’d kept my life really interesting.

Lucy had gone home, saying she had something she had to take care of.

She offered to pick me up before noon so we could drive together to the nursing home, but I told her I’d just meet her there. She had a knack for running late sometimes, and I’d rather get there early.

When I was ready to go, I went looking for Evan. I didn’t expect to find him still working out in the garage.

I knocked on the open door.

Evan was pushing a barbell up from his chest and making a crazy UGGGHH! sound in effort.

“Whoa,” I said as he dropped the bar and it thunked down into its cradle.

Every muscle on his arms was bulging. I’d never seen Evan looking so ripped.

He laid back on the bench, panting.

“What’s up, sis?”

“Hey,” I said. “I was gonna ask if you could give me a ride. Didn’t expect you to still be working out.”

He groaned and slowly rose to stand.

“Yeah, I can take you,” he said between panting breaths.

“Awesome. Thank you so much.”

Evan mopped his sweat-slicked face with a hand towel. Then blew his nose into it noisily.

“Lucy’s not comin’ back?” he asked.

“Well, she offered. But she’s always late, and I think it would look pretty bad if we asked these old people to meet us at noon and then showed up late.”

Evan nodded. “K. Do I have time to take a quick rinse off?”

I told him that was fine, and he ran to shower. Then by the time I’d gotten my boots on and supplies loaded into the trunk of his car, he was already jogging downstairs in clean sweats, with damp hair slicked back behind his ears.

But he was strangely quiet as we started driving.

“Is everything okay?” I asked.

“Yeah.” His tone wasn’t convincing.

Then he stole a sideways glance at me and we made eye contact.

He looked nervous.

“Alright, okay,” he said. “Yeah, I guess I’m just… just still scared about the whole thing.”

“The trip, and all that?” I said, though I knew exactly what he meant.

“Yeah.”

I sighed. “I know. Me too, Evan.”

I was glad that he felt like he could tell me what was really on his mind. That he trusted me to tell me the truth.

“And you’re still sure about coming with me?” I asked him.

We slowed down at a stoplight and he turned to face me.

The nervous look in his eyes faded, and he smiled.

“Absolutely sure,” he said. “Nothing is so scary that it could keep me from being by your side. I’d go anywhere with you.”

NOLAN

“I’ll bet you’ve lost your edge,” the old man said. “You’re out of practice.”

“No way.” Nolan smiled at his friend. “I could beat you one-handed. With my eyes closed.”

Alaster laughed, then coughed. He looked winded and tired.

Nolan figured the old man probably couldn’t stay awake long enough for a whole game, but he started dealing the cards between the two of them anyway. They’d play as much as they could, and if Alaster drifted off to sleep before they got to the end… well, it didn’t really matter.

The old man collected his pile of cards and held them in his big, bony hands.

His health sure didn’t seem great. But his mood was good. And he loved the gifts that Nolan had brought him.

The warm, soft blanket was the biggest hit. Nolan had bought two of these – one for Yena and one for Alaster.

Alaster asked Nolan to put the blanket on his bed right away, and to pull it up around his shoulders. Now, the old man looked kind of like a big baby, swaddled up in a big soft blankie. And smiling contently.

“Here we are,” Alaster said, drawing a card from the deck. “Mm-hmmm.” He picked a different one out of his hand and discarded it.

Nolan took his turn next. Then they played through a couple hands, with the prince keeping score after each round, using a pencil and a tiny notepad on the side table.

“You know, I was impressed with the way you picked this game up, when you were a child,” Alaster said. “That’s the first time I knew how very smart you were.”

“And yet, you do still beat me most of the time.”

The old man cracked a wide smile. “Like I said, you’ve lost your edge. You were better back then.”

A nurse wearing blue scrubs appeared in the doorway, carrying a food tray.

“Are we up for trying eating this afternoon?” she asked cheerily as she entered the room.

“Ack,” Alaster spat. “Do I have to?”

The nurse smiled at Nolan nervously.

“It’s good to see you again… Sir,” she said.

“And you as well.” Nolan offered her a warm smile.

“Are you going to help me get him to eat something?”

“Sure.” Nolan put his cards down. “I’ll take it from here.”

The nurse thanked him and left.

“You won’t really force me to eat, will you?” the old man asked Nolan once they were alone.

“How about just one bite?”

This bargain was accepted. Then Nolan managed to get the old man to take a second, third, and fourth bite, too. But then Alaster had a big coughing fit, and that meant the end of lunchtime for now.

Nolan helped him sip water from a straw when the old man found enough breath to manage it. And then after all that, Alaster’s eyelids looked heavy, and his body sagged against the pillows.

“We’ll pick up our game later,” Nolan said.

The old man did a very small nod, and his eyelids fluttered closed.

Nolan took the cards out of his bony hands and put them back into the deck. Put the cards away, tightened the blanket around Alaster’s shoulders, and turned out the lights.

He had just finished quietly pulling the door closed behind him when Nolan glimpsed a flash of gold out of the corner of his eye.

He turned to the left and saw what it was. But for a split second, he thought he was dreaming.

It was Yena.

Her long, golden curls were down around her shoulders, catching the sunlight from the high windows in the hallway.

She was walking right in Nolan’s direction, but she looked just as surprised to see him as he was to see her.