Night Vision: the ability to see clearly in pure darkness.

Josh comes to what feels like hours later, lying face up on the cold, frankly quite gross floor of the abandoned building. Tiana hovers over him, shaking his shoulders.

"Joshua William Dun, I swear to god, if you don't wake up right now I am stealing your dog," she threatens him, her nails digging into his arms.

"... ow," he mumbles, cautiously cracking his eyes open as he cautiously opens them. "When did it get so bright?"

Tiana sighs, falling back on her legs. "Gracias a Dios, I thought for a second I was going to have to do CPR on you."

He sits up too quickly, a wave of nausea hitting him. His head won't stop throbbing. Everything around him is brightly lit, like the middle of the day, except that much time couldn't have passed. Tiana stands and helps him, holding onto him as he regains his balance.

"How long was I out?" He asks, shielding his eyes with his hand when she flashes the time at him on her phone.

21:35. It's way past nine.

"I woke up only a couple minutes after you," she says, slipping the phone back into her sweater pockets. "There's nobody else here, and that weird machine looks like it's busted."

"Yikes. So much for avoiding trouble."

"Oh, and our parents are freaking out, your mom called like thirty times."

That sends a shock of panic through him. "Oh, my god. Give me my phone, I need to call her."

Tiana tosses him his phone, and Josh immediately sees the screen light up with another call from his mom. He hesitates before answering it, not even able to get out a hello before she's screaming.

"Joshua William Dun, where the fuck are you?" She shrieks.

Josh winces at the burst of loud sound, pulling the phone away from his ear. "Hey, mom, I am so sorry, but Tiana and I are-"

"I called the cops, Josh! Hernando and I almost called an amber alert on you and Tatiana. You scared us shitless! You two cannot just drop off the face of the earth like that, I thought you were kidnapped or killed, I thought I'd never see you again!"

"I know, I'm sorry." He looks at Tiana, who's now on the phone as well. "I swear we have a valid excuse."

"Oh, really? Enlighten me."

"Well, we were chased by Dallon after school and got... stuck in an abandoned building."

Silence. Josh imagines her jaw hitting the ground, all anger and fear dissolving into shock.

"... you WHAT? Joshua, you better get your ass back home in one piece this instant or you're grounded until senior year!"

She hangs up before he can say another word. Tiana looks at her phone, then up at Josh.

"We're so fucked," she says.

They find a way to get out of the building through a shattered window without having to take the catwalk back up to the fire escape. Outside, despite the moon being out and the street lights glimmering, Josh has to squint to see.

As they walk, he stares ahead where the light doesn't reach. Every sudden sound and subtle touch feels like it's amplified into his head. Tiana has an arm around him, babbling on about nonsense. At one point, he can't take it anymore, and tells her so.

She looks at him, confused, and let's go. "Sorry about that. Are okay? You look really pale."

Josh shrugs, rubbing his eyes. "My head hurts and all the lights are too bright. It's like whenever I get sensory overload in crowds, but dialed to eleven."

"Maybe you have a concussion." She stops him to inspect him for any injuries, hovering her fingers over his hairline.

"Probably." He notices the flaky dry blood on her temple. Her hands are still shaking despite the calm facade she's wearing. "You're hurt too, you know."

Tiana waves her hand. "I'll be fine, mom," she scoffs.

"At least let me look at it for you," he insists."

"When we get to my house." Tiana hooks their pinkies together. "Promise."

"You better not break it or I'm filling your hair dye with kool-aid," Josh says.

"That's mean."

When they make it back to Tiana's house, there's a cop still parked on the curb, the lights flashing blindingly. Josh has to close his eyes and bury his face in her shoulder as they walk into the house, straight to the kitchen where he hears his mother, Tiana's father, and a police officer talking.

"Josh!" He feels hands on his shoulders, then running down his arms and chest. "What happened? Where were you? Are you hurt? Did you get attacked?"

Josh forces his eyes onto his mother, who's holding his face in her hands, tears running down her cheeks. He feels guilt at the spiraling worry he must've thrown her into.

"I'm okay. I might have a concussion, though," he says, trying and failing to sound casual.

"Tatiana, mi amor, tu no puede acer eso," Josh hears Tiana's dad say in Spanish. "You almost scared us to death."

"I'm so sorry, we didn't know they were going to be there," Tiana responds.

She looks over at Josh, who can see the look in her eyes, what she's trying to tell him. They can't find out what happened to us. He nods.

After another hour of tending to wounds, lying to the cops and to their parents, the two curl up on the floor Tiana's bedroom, exhausted.