The place he considered his home became an empty space. Everything around Noah was shaking and he couldn't find a way to put his footing on without falling.

He crossed the door of his family's gym like a stranger, the usual excitement vanished a month ago. In the bottom of his heart he always knew that he didn't wish to follow the path of his parents, yet he never considered the family business as a burden. He came to convince himself that perhaps it wasn't so bad to be the owner of a gym, he would have financial stability and the relationship with his parents would remain intact. At least that's what he thought until he met death.

Stability became an illusion. No one can be certain of a single prediction of their future when they could be dead the next morning. Why would he throw away his happiness for a future that might not come? If his life could end at any moment, at least he'll die knowing that he enjoyed it. So, for the first time, he chose the hard way, he chose to be authentic with himself.

"Put on a smile, will you?" His father told him once he reached the reception desk. "You'll scare the customers with that face."

The frown on Noah's face became more pronounced. He tilted his head and fixed his gaze on the man in front of him. Even behind the high reception desk his father looked tall, which added to his big muscles made him intimidating to anyone. He normally maintains a relaxed posture and a big smile on his face to address the customers, but at his son's attitude he stood up straight and turned serious.

"I'm taking some days off," said the young man, ignoring the other's words.

"That's all you have to say? No explanation?" The oldest raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you on summer break? You don't have to study for College so I don't see a reason for you to take days off."

Noah took a deep breath. He turned around and leaned back against the reception desk. For a moment he dedicated himself to observing the few people exercising on the many machines, then he directed his gaze to the black ceiling.

"You're forgetting my responsibilities with the Protectors," he fired back, crossing his arms against his chest. "Besides, I never take time off, I'm sure you can manage without me, there are enough employers to take over. Pete didn't come to work for two weeks, ask him."

"Pete isn't going to inherit the business," Mr. Green rested his hand on his son's shoulder. "As my only son you can't expect me to treat you like the other employees. It's time for you to stop spending so much time with your head in the stars and start to focus on your responsibilities with the family."

The young man slapped his father's hand away, he turned his head and observed the man. Noah loathed how much he looked like his father, same red hair, same green eyes, even their upturned nose looked alike. It made it easier for strangers to recognize him as Jonah's Green son.

"I don't give a shit about inheriting the gym," Noah whispered loud enough for his father to hear. He might be mad at the man but he didn't want to create a scene in front of the customers. "I told you that before, don't act surprised. Look, there's plenty of employees who have been working with you for years, some of them have been here from the beginning, you can pass the gym to them. I'm making you a favor, you don't want me in charge, as you said my head is in the stars. I'm taking a week off, I'm not asking, I'm letting you know. If you have a problem, you can fire me."

After his speech he took two steps forward, away from his father's angry glare. Anyone else would have recanted before it, but the young man already considered himself immune. Although at that moment there was something more hidden than the usual anger: disappointment.

"Tell mum I said hi," commented Noah before turning his back on the man and walking towards the door.

He heard his father scream his name, still he didn't stop. He didn't have anything else to say, he didn't want to listen to his father's complaints either.

The redhead took refuge in the action of walking, every time his feelings were about to crush him, he walked. The peace that enveloped him when he put on his headphones and let his feet carry him to whenever he wanted was unmatched, not even running with his power felt that good.  Inside his little world nothing could reach him and if he turned up the music volume enough he could silence the destructive thoughts.

After weeks the village got some of his beauty back. The tense muscles of Noah's face relaxed as he observed the colourful houses repaired, it gave him the illusion that nothing bad had happened. He took a deep breath to smell the perfume of the flowers that decorated the front yards, the aroma accompanied him the rest of the way to his destination.

Once he saw the door of the headquarters, he took off his headphones and his expression turned grim. He showed his tattoo and said the password of the week to the guards to let him in. One of the vines covering the entrance hit him on the head as the door opened.

"Fucking shit," he complained before getting inside the headquarters.

A somber atmosphere welcomed Noah. The shadows that loomed over the members' faces contrasted with the light that entered through the large windows in the corridors. All of them grieved the loss of a friend, their leader and their hope.

He crossed the hallways faking a smug smile, still he didn't yell at the young man who accidentally hit his arms as he passed by him like the old Noah would have, still he gave the other a menacing look. The member asked for forgiveness at least thrice, stuttering with fear.  Noah turned around without saying anything showing that he accepted the apology and continued on his way.

"Just the one I was looking for."

He heard his new leader's voice while an arm was wrapped around his shoulders. Noah let out a sigh and directed his gaze towards Momotaro who guided him towards the opposite direction to which he was going.

"Don't you have anything better to do than annoy me?" The redhead complained.

"I have a new job for you, you're going to love it," said Momo, putting emphasis on the last words. "Follow me and I'll show you."

"No fucking way," Noah slapped Momotaro's hand, broke free of his grip and stopped walking. "If I follow you without an explanation I know you'll force me to accept whatever plan you have, I can smell your trap from miles away."

"Relax man," the new leader raised his hands in surrender. "I'll explain it while we walk. If you don't agree you can stay out of the room."

"You better be telling the truth or I'll kidnap your dog."

"If you want to spend some playtime with Titan you can ask," Joked Momotaro before he started walking. "No need to make excuses."

"Seems like Stefan passed you his bad sense of humor." Noah followed his leader despite his words.

"I want you to be in charge of the new members' physical training."

"Not in a million years, find someone else. I can't stand the new ones, their hero complex pisses me off, and they're too loud."

"You're not exactly a walk in the park either."

"Neither are you, dickface." Noah elbowed the other young man in the side.

"Easy. That's how you talk to your leader? I was just stating facts, besides, your grumpy personality is one of the reasons why I want you in charge of the new recruits. It's true that they're always cocky and someone needs to put them in their place. I can't let someone nice like Lorcan or Bertram in charge, but I know you won't let them play around." Momotaro stopped in front of the door of the training room. "And your fighting skills are among the best, I can use someone who trained martial arts before being part of the group."

"Are you giving me permission to be mean to them?" Asked Noah, a smirk present in his face.

"But don't be so harsh, they're not of help if they're traumatized. The group is not that big, after the eclipse most people are scared of joining us so you shouldn't have a problem with the number. We're having some issues, I'll tell you about it later so you'll have to keep an eye on the members of your group for their safety."

"You want me to be a nanny?"

"Not exactly, you'll be a shitty nanny. All I ask that you make sure that they don't do anything stupid during their patrols." Momotaro took his cell phone out of his pocket and looked at the time. Chat is over, you don't want to be late on your first day as a trainer. Teach them the basics today, I'll ask Gellert to explain the rest to you later."

"Ok, I'll do it, but only for Stefan," said Noah as he fixed his hair. "Come on, open the door. The new kids don't know what's waiting for them."