^^Above, chapter title credit: Song by Duran Duran.^^

{Geoffrey}

Sometime during the wee hours of the morning I remember Raina sliding out from under my arm, kissing my cheek, and quietly leaving. I still smile though, when I wake up fully. She did something to me, something that made my insides get all mushy. Not that I mind, obviously. I never thought last night would happen, but it did.

"Didn't hear you come in last night," Matt says when I find him in the kitchen a little later, leaning against the counter and eating a bowl of cereal. "What happened?"

"Raina happened." I grin, uncontrollably. Every time I think about it.

"Get out." Matt's eyes widen, and he drops his spoon into his bowl with a clang. "Really?"

"Yeah. Really." It wasn't my first time, but that doesn't matter. In fact, it seems like nothing matters, except that.

"Nice, man." He raises a fist.

I bump mine against it, catching movement in the doorway. It's Raina, her hair damp and wearing one of my T-shirts. Her eyes move between us, and I suddenly feel the awkwardness set in.

"I'll just...uh...go, then." Matt slides sideways to drop his bowl in the sink, and then ducks out the other door, leaving us alone.

"Hey, Raina," I say, trying to smile.

"Geoff, I..." She runs her hand through her hair, her cheeks turning pink. "Last night, it was..."

"It was great, Raina. You were great." I tell myself to shut up, before I say something I'll regret.

"I just wanted to say...it wasn't my first time. Junior year of high school...after the prom...that was." She seems both embarrassed and relieved by it. "The first whole year without my dad, and I just...I kind of just lost all my restraint."

"Hey, it's okay." I go to her, pulling her into a hug. "Don't worry. Really. It's okay."

She sighs and relaxes into me, and after a second, she says, "I should be getting back. El will come looking for me soon if I don't."

"Want me to walk you back?" I'm worried about her being out alone, especially after yesterday.

"No, but thank you for the offer." She cups my cheek and kisses me gently. "I'll be fine."

"I know you will." I squeeze her hand. "Later, then?"

"Yeah. Just...let me know what you find out about the other thing we talked about." She blushes. "Before that."

"You got it." I release her hand, and she goes out. I don't want to tell her that I had no regrets, because that would sound like last night didn't mean anything to me. But it did. It meant she finally trusted me, and she finally felt ready to make peace with her past. Because God knows that's not an easy thing to do.

≈

I start with finding Hugo again. He's in the library, typing up something furiously on one of the clunky computers. I don't even think he hears me coming until I'm right next to him.

"Hey, Hugo?"

He startles, then looks up. "Oh hey, Geoff. What's up?"

"When you found Walker's paper...did you find anything else on that subject?"

"Yeah, some," he says, leaning back in his chair. "You want it?"

"That'd be helpful, actually." I turn away from him, but he calls me back at the last second.

"One question before you go, Geoff."

"What?" I about-face.

"This girl...she was hanging around Professor Walker's office the day I went and asked him about it. She watched us the whole time we talked, and then afterward she went in and closed the door. You wouldn't know who that is, would you?"

"Did she have violet eyes? Long brown hair?" Dread starts to grow in my stomach. I was afraid something like this would happen sooner or later.

"Yeah. And when she smiled at me...I almost forgot about Aisha." He seems perplexed, almost like he didn't think a girl could do that to him.

"Her name's Felicia Burgess. She doesn't go to this school, but I've seen her around." Damn it, now I know Ridley's got something to do with Walker's disappearance.

"That's weird," he says, but doesn't continue.

"Yeah, it is. But if you see her again, tell me right away. I think she helped Walker disappear."

"Or made him disappear." Fear crosses his face. "Could she actually do that?"

I nod. "We'll need to get to the bottom of this, and fast. Are you in?"

"You got me." He gives me a two-fingered salute. "Whatever you need."

"Thanks, Hugo." I have to commend him for that sleuthing. I probably wouldn't have even known where to start.

He shrugs, although I can tell he's flattered. "Just helping out a friend."

≈

When I get back to the frat, Matt's the first one to find me. He has an unreadable expression on his face, and his brow furrows when our eyes meet.

"What's wrong, Matt? What happened?" My first thought's Ridley again, because I know these days, it's always something to do with him.

"Your dad's on the phone, Geoff. He's asking for you."

I go to the phone in the dining room, still off the hook, and pick it up. "Dad?"

"Geoffrey, I know we parted on bad terms, and I'm sorry." Dad's voice is thin, unusual for him. When I was a kid it seemed like he was always booming at me.

"I'm sorry too, Dad," I answer, but I don't want to tell him about Raina. Somehow I don't think that'd be a tactful conversation starter.

"Listen, son, about why I called." His voice gets heavy, and I know it's serious. He almost never called me son. "I've got some bad news."

"Really?" I can't get anything else out.

"See, the thing is...I've got a cancerous tumor in my pancreas. The doctors say it could be from the exposure to all that radiation at the factory. It's been metastasizing for a while now, apparently. It's in my lymph nodes too."

The table bumps against the wall as I lean against it. "How long have you known?"

"Since Thanksgiving. I didn't want to tell you, because it was a holiday and you deserved some time off without worrying about me. Can you forgive me, son?"

"Dad, I..." I don't know what to say. Pancreatic cancer was almost always fatal. "Yeah. I do."

"They say I have about eight months. Even with the chemotherapy," he says, but he doesn't sound like my dad anymore. He sounds like a little kid, scared of what's coming.

"Do you want me to come up there?" I don't want him to have to face this all by himself. "Help out at the office for a while?"

"Finish the school year first, Geoffrey." The little kid's gone. "Then we'll see."

"Dad," I say, hearing the finality. "Wait."

"What is it?"

"I'm sorry this is happening to you. If I could change it..."

"I'm sorry too, Geoffrey." For the first time in a long while, his apology sounds genuine. "I'm sorry I wasn't a better father to you when you needed it."

Even after he's hung up, I stand there with the phone in my hand, staring at the wall. I don't even know what to do. I'm a legal adult, but when my dad dies, I'll have nowhere to go. His will has to be at least twenty years old, written before he thought he'd have kids. All his money will go to the company, and all the properties go to the renters. And now he's running out of time to change it, even if he wanted to.

"Hey, man. You okay?" Jake's joined Matt now, in the common area. He must have told him when I went to pick up the phone.

"My dad has cancer," I say, my voice hollow. "He's known about it since November."

"Geez, dude, I'm sorry." Jake shakes his head, but seems to not know what to do or say otherwise.

"God, Geoff, I'm sorry too." Matt gets up, catching my shoulders and looking me in the eye. "Anything I can do?"

"No." I can't even think straight right now. "Thanks, though."

"Just let me know if there's anything," he says. "Anything at all. Just say the word."

I nod, and then plod off to our room. I need some alone time first, and then I need to tell Raina. Unlike everything else, this piece of news can't wait.

≈

I find her with Ellen at the coffee shop, standing in line for the register. Both of them smile and wave when I come in, and I can barely smile back. I approach them and lean up against the rail, tapping Raina on the shoulder.

"Can I have a word?"

"Sure," she says, with a glance at Ellen. She nods. Raina ducks under the rail, and I take her hand and lead her to the back, in a quiet corner. She waits until I've turned around to speak. "What's going on? I was going to drop by the frat when we were done—"

"Raina, it's about my dad. He has cancer."

She gasps and covers her mouth, her grip going slack. "Oh God, Geoff, I'm so sorry. How long has it been?"

"Since November. He didn't want to tell me because he didn't want me worrying." My voice sounds strange to my ears, so flat and emotionless.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Her expression mirrors Matt's, concerned and sympathetic. "Or anything you...want me to do?"

I pull her into a hug, but this time it's for support. I'm leaning on her more heavily than I normally would, but at the moment I don't think my legs can hold me. She kisses the side of my head, above my ear, and rubs my back gently, but doesn't say anything. I'm grateful for it, especially when I think of how little time I have left with him around. He may not have been the best parent, but he was still the only one I had. It was hard to believe he was the only family I had left.

"Thank you, Raina," I say after a while, finally releasing her and slumping into a nearby chair.

"For what?" She pushes the hair out of my eyes, a gesture so tender it makes my throat hurt.

"Not telling me you know how I feel, or what I'm going through. Or saying how he looked fine when we were there. You know how hard that's going to be, hearing that from everybody I tell?" My eyes get misty, and I try to blink it away.

"Then don't," she says, her hand stopping on my cheek and rubbing it with her thumb.

"What?"

"It's private, Geoff. You don't have to tell anyone if you don't want to. And it's not like people start conversations with 'So hey, my dad has cancer.'"

I smile, just a small one. "You have a point."

"And if you don't want me to tell El, I won't." She gives my forehead a kiss too. "She won't spread it around if I ask her not to, though."

"You can tell her." I take a deep breath, noticing how it shudders on the way out. "Matt and Jake already know too."

"Okay." She brushes her knuckles lightly along my jaw as Ellen comes up behind her.

"Rains?" she says, and Raina visibly jumps. "What happened?"

Raina takes the coffee from Ellen and then fills her in, her her voice low and unhurried. The color drains from Ellen's face, and she presses her fingers against her lips. I catch a sheen of tears in her eyes, and it's taking everything I have right now to not break down myself. I'm thankful for Raina's words, though. Telling me straight-up that I didn't have to tell anyone if I didn't want to, that it was private, that was more of a comfort than anyone could have offered me. Besides, she was the most qualified to say that. I couldn't blame her for some of the stuff she kept private.

"So do you want some coffee or something, Geoff?" Ellen sits down in the chair opposite me. "Anything to eat, or drink?"

"No," I say through a sigh, running my hand over my face. "Thanks, though."

Eventually I leave them too, telling Raina she could still come by if she wanted to. She just gives my hand a reassuring squeeze, letting me know I have her support. God knows I need a lot of that right now.