Thomas is just about to get himself a glass of water, when the bell rings.

On Saturday morning?

Mom's doing the groceries, Minho's in dreamland about his date with Evie, Dad is gardening a bit, Aris is in his room, and Finn is training.

Thomas and I woke up not long ago. His hair is still undone and I haven't fixed how I look at all, yet both of us open up.

A cop.

"Hi— you must be Miss Lee? And..." His eyes scan up and down Thomas's body. "And Mr. Reyes?"

"Yes," we reply slowly.

"Perfect. I'm sorry for bursting through the door on a random Saturday," he says kindly, but still in a formal tone. "I just want to ask some questions. Both of you. Perfect that you're together."

Thomas looks at me, concerned, and back at him. "About the murders?"

"Yes, mainly." He nods. "We can go to the station or have a talk here, if no one else is around. It's up to you."

"Here is fine. No one's home."

"Okay. It won't take long."

We allow him inside. He touches his brown mustache as he inspects the hallway, then readjusts the blue cap on his head.

Thomas leads us to the kitchen table. All three of us sit down, Thomas and I next to each other.

"I'd like to talk to each of you alone," he says. "Miss. Lee first, if possible?"

With a short nod, Thomas leaves the room.

I shift in my seat, nervous. We must've become suspects after finding half of the bodies. I have nothing to hide. It just bothers me to be a suspect in the first place, and to be interviewed by a cop.

"I understand you were there when not only Albert Keller was found buried, but also Arthur Leadford when, we suppose, someone drowned him."

"Yes," I say.

"And I understand your... boyfriend's," he gives a questioning look, at which I nod, "golden retriever has found those bodies."

"Yes, true."

"How exactly did it go? Finding Mr. Keller?"

"I— uhm... I was taking a walk. I tend to enjoy morning walks as long as the weather and everything is comfortable. Then Mango, the dog, appeared. I knew it was Thomas's dog. I ran after her when she started running away. Then, at the countryside, she started digging. When she was done, she looked at me, so I looked in the hole. I saw his face. Startled, I started running away to tell someone in my family."

"You had no phone on you?"

I've told the police this story before. Telling this again brings back memories. "I did, but the screen was broken and my shaky hands didn't help. Later on, I bumped into Thomas, who then saw the body, too. He called the police."

"And I've caught that Mr. Reyes was the one to find Mrs. and Mr. Cooper. Behind the rocks at the beach, stabbed to death?"

"Yes. His dog, again."

"Lastly, Arthur Leadford. Found by the dog, again. Floating beside the surface?"

"Correct."

"You two didn't stay at the body when you called. We couldn't ask you any questions. Neither did Mr. Reyes stay with the Coopers. Why?"

"We didn't want to be asked questions," I say. "We had enough after finding one body already."

He writes something down on his notepad. "You do realize that this may rise suspicions?"

"Yes." I nod. "But we were panicked as well."

"And earlier, you two warned us at the station. Something about a book? The First Stars?"

"The murders are based on that," I tell him, now confident. "The killer murders based on the order of gods being born. Hestia, of hearth, Demeter, of earth— Mr. Keller. Hera, of marriage—"

"Hearth?" He repeats.

"My mom's boss died a while ago. They said he fell in the hearth. He was old. But Thomas and I realized it had to do with the murders. Next would be Hades. There was something going on with our milk at home. I think it was poisoned, and that would be connected to the river the Styx, and Hades is connected to that."

"Was there a specific target for the milk?"

I nod. "Aris. He lives here temporarily." I give a quick summary of everything.

At the end of that explanation, his eyebrows are raised. "So he is connected to your mother's boss?"

"...yes," I say.

No. Remember what you said. That boy wouldn't.

"And you say he would be getting poisoned. Except he didn't die. We went on to the Poseidon thing."

"Yeah," I reply, even slower now. I'm becoming unsure of this whole thing. It freaks me out.

"Perhaps that was done to get the suspicions off him," the man says. "But of course, your mother might also know all of these people. Or Mr. Reyes' mother, who wrote the book."

At my widened eyes, he chuckles, "Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you. Moving on, you've had history with Mr. Leadford, haven't you?"

I swallow away a bundle of nerves. An automatic shiver runs down my spine at the moments replaying in my head. "Yes."

He asks me details about it. About what Mr. Leadford did and tried, how Thomas reacted, and how we wanted to solve everything.

"And Mr. Keller?"

"Thomas's PE teacher. Was my teacher for like a year."

"Do you have any thoughts on how crazy it is that a single dog, who is not trained for it, manages to find that many bodies?"

I shrug. "Thomas saw Mr. Keller a lot, and Mango, the dog, must've recognized the smell. Dogs smell better than humans."

"You've thought it through." He nods in an approving way.

Approving what? That I'm the murderer because I asked myself how Mango found a buried person?

So I ignore that. "Mango just found the other two. She wasn't connected to the leash. Ran around, smelled death, and stayed there until Thomas forced her to leave."

He asks a few more questions about details, then says it's over, sending a wave of relief all over me. I couldn't handle being questioned any time longer.

Now I'm just anxious for what Thomas will say. He's not short-tempered, but he can be... well, impatient. And he sometimes judges before actually knowing the person.

And he doesn't bother hiding the fact he's judging.

"Oh, by the way, is this Aris home?" The cop asks.

"Yes, he's upstairs."

"If it's not a problem, I'd like to talk to him, too."

☯︎︎

We don't really mention the interviews at breakfast, but it remains disturbingly silent.

Thomas, Aris, and I don't dare to say a word.

Minho appeared ten minutes after the cop left, and that was the same time Mom came back with the groceries and Finn started setting the table. Then Dad got called to come and eat.

So here we are.

I am happy to say that I have never seen Minho this energetic on a Saturday morning before.

His date—which I'm still not sure can be called a real date—went well. He told us he managed to take a short walk with Evie before he took her back home. She said it was more fun than she expected it to be. He suggested doing it again, or any kind of activity, and she gave a hesitant nod. Then he got her home, and her grandma was really happy with his service. He got invited over for cookies, which he accepted— more time to spend with Evie.

He had a short talk with her grandma. He said he was polite and that he gave Evie small compliments through the night. Then he went home and 'fell asleep with a smile on his face'.

I say that's a good date.

And he's still smiling a bit, so that's even better.

It made him happy— he was off the last months. Minho was always a bit 'childish' and sometimes mean, but not like the previous weeks. And slowly, he seems to be finding his spark again. He's nicer, to literally everyone, and more mature. A lot of improvements that I'm proud of. I should tell him that.

After breakfast, everyone helps clean up the table. Then, soon, they have all vanished to do their own thing, leaving Thomas and I in the kitchen with Finn and Aris.

Once again.

Thomas's phone vibrates against the wood of our kitchen table. I look down at it, then at Thomas. He's swiping through some things on the TV, Finn next to him.

"You can check it," he announces.

With a nod, I take his phone. Type in the familiar password and read the text.

Teresa

Hi. I'm back in town this weekend. Do you want to catch up or is that too awkward? Brenda and I are going to get coffee together. You and Vi are welcome!

I stare at the letters for way too long, my mouth wide open. Imagine if Thomas hadn't fully healed yet. Wouldn't it have hurt a lot, to see the one who broke his heart casually text him this as if they've always been friends?

Does she want to be friends?

I thought he mentioned she said to forget about her.

I look over at Thomas. He's watching something on the screen with Finn, completely oblivious.

Then he must sense my gaze, because he turns towards me. "What's up?"

"It's a— eh, a text from Teresa. You should read it yourself."

As I hand him the phone, I can't help but search for a slight flicker of emotion on his face. I don't know what exactly it is that I'm searching for, though.

Do I want him to react like me, confused because they clearly broke up?

Do I need to see sadness? To confirm if he's completely over her or not?

Or maybe anger? Pissed that she dares to text him after everything?

Or perhaps I just want everything laid bare, so I can reassure myself he'll choose me over any ghost in the past. That I'm the only girl that matters—

I squeeze my eyes closed for a second. Rude. She's just asking to catch up. This painful feeling shouldn't be gnawing at my insides.

"Oh," Thomas says. His face remains a bit too neutral. But at the way his jaw tenses, I can see it does make him feel. I don't know what, but it's something. "That's... friendly," he slowly says.

"Very," I say, and it comes out way too quickly. Snappy, almost.

Which is very wrong. Teresa was always nice to me. There is no need to be snappy when she's the subject.

I guess there is a small, insecure part that wonders if he still has lingering feelings for his first real love.

"I won't go. I don't really believe in the friends-after-breakup thing," he mutters. "Especially not when I'm in a new relationship."

I nod. My tense shoulders lower.

As he looks up, his gaze softens. There's a tiny smile on his face. He holds out his hand for me to take, so I do, and he pulls me next to him on the couch. "I'm with you now," he says firmly. "Teresa is in the past, like she said. You're my present and future."

Woah.

Adding a whole freaking quote in there or something.

And he perfectly succeeds making me flush with a red color because of it.

"That was awful," Finn mutters below his breath.

Yet I hear it. "You're awful. And you're just jealous."

"Of what, exactly? A baby romance?"

Finn is very caring and kind (but somehow also very grumpy) until it comes to relationships.

Of course it doesn't have to be his first need in life, but I feel like he doesn't even have sympathy for it. At all.

"At least we have one."

He turns back to the TV, arms crossed. He's wearing a gray sweater. If not, you would've been able to see all the muscles from training and boxing. And those things scare me; to know he's so strong below it all. Below every grumpy word or nerdy comment about psychology.

Well, scare is a big word. You get what I mean.

Aris makes eye contact with me. Something about his smile—or grin—makes me frown. He knows something again. Something about Finn.

"Or do you have a baby romance?" I turn back to my brother, curious.

"No," he denies. "And even if I had something going on, it wouldn't be a baby romance."

"You have something going on," I state. "Wait a minute— when Minho said you also have something going on, he later on told me it was a lie! Or was he just saying that so you wouldn't kill him?" 

"He said it's a lie because it is," Finn replies calmly.

But how adorable would it be to see this guy with a girl? Him, with anger issues and boxing skills, and a very nice girl?

Or boy, for all I care.

I can see it. Him falling for someone who's the total opposite.

That'd be perfect. Minho fell for what I'd call his personality twin, I fell for my best friend—who is technically also a personality twin but in another way—and Finn would fall for a polar opposite.

"I'm going to find out if you're hiding something."

"I'm going to teach you not to stick your nose in other people's business," he replies.

Yeah, okay, he's done with me already.

And he knows about my stupid habit of violating privacies.

"Do that, please," I murmur before I turn back to Thomas, sighing out loud. "And now?"

"We—"

The doorbell rings.

It is so unexpected that everyone is too startled to move for a moment.

Then it rings again, not even a second later.

And again. It gets pressed for a straight ten seconds, ruining our ability to hear normally. I'm going to hear this peep for the rest of the day.

Then there's knocks on the window. "Thomas!" A shrieked yelp. "Your mother told me you're here!" Her voice goes even higher. "Come outside!"

A male voice adds in, "Yeah, come greet your grandparents."

Right.

Thomas throws his head back, rolls off the couch, and lies there for so long that we eventually realize he's planning to stay there until his grandparents leave.

"Help me," he groans out. "I don't want this. The two fat kisses on my cheeks that'll leave lipstick stains, the asking about my grades and love life, and then discriminating every thing in the world."

"Just don't open up," Finn says gruffly.

"Not planning on doing so."

Helplessly, Aris looks around. I shrug at him. They don't have to know we're home. They'll be fine thinking we were at the beach or something.

"I forgot they were coming." Thomas buries his head in a pillow, muffling all his groans and sighs.

Mom and Dad are in the garden. They won't hear a single thing.

"Well, let's not show up until tonight."