Everyone stood in shock, their eyes glued to the display of fireworks that illuminated the dark sky. The explosions burst in shades of blue and purple, each eruption accompanied by a fierce glow that seemed to see everything ablaze.

Scarlett felt a rush of emotions as tears streamed down her cheeks. She quickly wiped them away with the back of her hand while taking in her surroundings.

Everywhere she looked, people were crying, screaming, hugging each other, or simply staring at the collapsed barrier in stunned silence.

It finally ended. After months of hell, she had witnessed her daughter defeat the thing that had kept them trapped inside this bubble. How easily Cassandra beat that thing was astonishing, almost as if it were a simple game.

"Run!" Mark shouted.

They ran from from the burning plaza toward the highway, Scarlett's heartbeat pounding in her ears.

The raging fire consumed everything in its path. Overturned cars, nearly houses, and fallen trees were reduced to ash. Flames crackled and leapt with a fierce roar.

A hand suddenly grabbed hers.

Scarlett spun around so fast her chest hurt.

Greyson.

Relief hit hard enough to nearly knock air from her lungs.

She threw herself at him without thinking, wrapping both arms around his neck as he caught her against him. Greyson buried his face in her shoulder, breathing hard, and for a second neither of them moved.

They were alive.

They ran forward, but most people froze at the edge of the real world. Parents frantically searching searched for their children, while others clutched them tightly, tears streaming.

Scarlett knew her own parents wouldn't be among them.

"Let's go to McDonald's! We can get hotcakes, fries, and ice cream!" Mia cheered.

However, the scene around them was anything from joyful, as police officers and paramedics swarmed the area.

Ambulances, police cruisers, and military vehicles crowded every available space on the highway.

Flashing lights painted the smoke-filled night in red and blue.

In the distance, she could see the McDonald's just off the highway, its parking lot filled with rushing adults.

"Everyone move toward the ambulances with your hands visible!" a voice ordered through a megaphone.

Floodlights illuminated the ruined highway while officers in tactical gear spread across the area. Some held medical kits.

Others kept their hands near their weapons.

Greyson took hand and guided her toward a waiting ambulance. As they neared it, a tall police officer stepped in front of them, blocking their path.

"Greyson and Jason are coming with us," the blonde officer said firmly, gripping Greyson's shoulder. "They need to be contained separately."

Scarlett froze.

"What?" she asked immediately.

Greyson turned toward her, his expression unreadable, but she noticed the tension in his jaw. Jason stood beside him in silence while two more officers moved closer, their hands hovering over their weapons.

Greyson's fingers twitched at his sides.

Scarlett thought he was going to use his power.

"Fine," he muttered.

Then they pulled him away.

Scarlett followed the female paramedic into the ambulance, wondering if any of them still had abilities left.

She brushed her fingers against her wrist,

The familiar sensation pulsed beneath her skin.

Rank: Low.

Her stomach dropped.

Her power was still there.

As they helped her into the ambulance, the other paramedics tended to her wounds. Two other people were loaded inside, who were Emma and Mallory.

The ambulance door slammed shut behind them with a heavy metallic thud.

Sirens wailed as the vehicle lurched forward, trapping them inside bright white lights, medical equipment, and the smell of blood.

Nobody spoke for several seconds.

"You'll be taken to Toronto SickKids hospital," the paramedic said. "Because of your injuries and malnutrition, you may be separated from your peers."

"Why do we still have our powers?" Emma whispered. "We shouldn't... we saw them die."

"Is something internal?" the paramedic asked.

Scarlett frowned, thinking back. She had watched Cassandra melt away Divina and Ashley, who were the ones primarily responsible for the powers they had developed over the past couple of years.

"We know some of you have supernatural powers abilities," Patty said. "Once your injuries heal, you'll face trial."

"Court?" Mallory asked. "We didn't do anything wrong!"

Patty hesitated for a second before answering.

"Some survivors are accusing each other of assault, murder, theft and abuse," she said carefully. "The police need statements from everyone involved."

Silence settled over the ambulance.

"Mia Ortiz will also be part of trial, due to her own delinquent behaviour. Some may face more severe charges, depending on the crimes they committed," another paramedic named Dante said.

"River Dunlop said he had his own court hearing," Scarlett remarked.

This seemed to startle them that they mentioned River.

"River Dunlop? He was involved?" Patty asked, frowning.

"It's all over the news. His mother was arrested," Scarlett said.

The paramedics stared blankly at her, still trending their wounds.

Emma shakily lifted her hand to the gash on her cheek.

Scarlett barely noticed at first.

Then the skin began to heal.

The bleeding stopped instantly as the gash sealed itself shut beneath Emma's fingertips.

Silence filled the ambulance.

One paramedic physically recoiled.

Dante stared at Emma like he was looking at something no longer human, while Patty slowly lowered the clipboard in her hands.

"Oh my god," she whispered.

The ambulance finally stopped, and the doors swung open. Paramedics helped lift the patients onto stretchers and rushed them into the hospital.

The hallways were chaos.

Stretchers rolled past one another while nurses shouted instructions over ringing phones and crying parents. Police officers crowded the corridors beside exhausted doctors, and every few feet she caught another survivor being rushed into a room.

Some were screaming.

Some looked completely numb.

"We still have more patients to attend to," a nurse called out. "We need to ask questions and find out what happened."

Scarlett's body throbbed with every movement.

Her knuckles were split open. Bruises darkened her ribs beneath the hospital gown. Every breath reminded her of the fight—the stabbing, the screaming, Cassandra turning to ash before her very eyes.

She felt hollow.

They were finally free.

But the outside world didn't feel real anymore.

The bright hospital lights hurt Scarlett's eyes. The constant voices, the machines beeping, the smell of disinfectant—it all felt wrong after being trapped inside chaos and death.

She was wheeled into a room and placed on a hospital bed. There was already food on a small brown table that could be wheeled across the bed.

She barely waited for the food to cool before eating.

The lasagna was almost painfully hot, but she didn't care. Real cheese. Real sauce. Warm food that hadn't been fought over.

She drank the apple juice just in seconds.

She had amazing food on the island, but this brought back a rush of feelings.

Scarlett watched as the nurses brought Emma into the room. It was a shared, and the yellow curtain remained open.

A doctor, a few nurses, and a police officer crowded the small space, leaving little room for privacy.

"I'm Doctor Thomas," he said.

Dark circles sat beneath his eyes, as he snapped on new gloves.

"You've both been through severe prolong trauma," he said carefully. "Right now our priority is stabilizing everyone physically before investigators begin formal interviews."

Scarlett flinched as Nurse Bree guided the needle toward her arm. She clenched her jaw and tried not to think about the last time someone had forced her to endure pain. The sting was sharp, but it wasn't like the hell of childbirth.

"You can use the bathroom before we set everything up," Thomas offered.

After finishing her meal, Scarlett's stomach growled for more. She headed to the bathroom, pausing at the mirror. Cassandra's healing work was obvious—her ribs were no longer visible, her arms and legs had regained strength, and the only subtle traces of pregnancy remained.

She stood beneath the hot water for so long her skin turned red.

Dirt, dried blood, and ash spiralled down drain around her feet.

She changed into a grey t-shirt and maroon sweatpants before opening the door.

"Greyson apologized," Emma said, gazing out the large window.

Scarlett was surprised, as Greyson hadn't even mentioned apologizing to Emma.

"He's finally changing," Scarlett remarked.

Emma nodded to look at her with an anxious expression in her eyes, but it wasn't from what she had told her.

"It's... weird being out," Emma said, biting her lip and twisting her fingers together. "I keep waiting for someone to get hurt. Now we're just being judged."

"They will judge us. We have security at our door, even through when we haven't murdered someone," Scarlett said.

The memory of David's death came striking back in her mind as she felt goosebumps. She had seen Cassandra erase him away with her face clouded in anger, because she knew that memory.

"They're going go blame someone," Emma said, rubbing her eyes. "And I think they're hoping it's us."

Scarlett didn't answer.

A sudden burst of shouting echoed from the hallway.

It was Eden, her face flushed, clutching a bag of McDonald's. A security guard blocked her path.

"I don't care if they want it back! I'm the hungry child!" she screamed.

Scarlett guessed Eden had taken food from someone on the floor. Most of the other people she knew weren't even here, like Greyson.

"Eden, we just need to cooperate with us," the male security said slowly. "You're allowed to walk freely, but the doctor just needs to check over your body."

She eyed them from outside the doorway, throwing the bag into their room and marching past the security guard in the opposite direction.

Scarlett went over to grab the brown McDonald's bag that still had some fries in it. She brought them over to the wheeled table, dumping them all onto her plate. It had been a long time since she had fries that were salty.

At this point, she didn't care if Eden had stolen them from someone. They had barely eaten anythings edible until they went to the island, but it was not like it's a buffet of chicken and steak from some fancy restaurant.

Emma walked over awkwardly, taking a few and eating them.

"What are we supposed to do?" Emma asked.

"Wait until they figure out we actually still have powers," Scarlett sighed.

Scarlett spotted a small television that could be pulled around to the bedside. She reached over to pull it over, looking at a couple of buttons that were on the television. It looked like one of those old computers that was a musty black colour that hadn't been replaced in years.

The first channel she pressed was the news about them. The headline about how the children were free from Simcoe, flashing lights in the background and an ongoing investigation.

She flipped through some other channels but stopped at one. It was an interview with the headmistress of Uden Academy, facing a reporter named Emmett Katz about the academy. There were a couple of pictures showing the inside of the building before they started playing a video.

"Uden Academy is an amazing opportunity for students. I'm personally heading to Harvard through their neuroscience scholarship program," Lowell Smith proudly.

Scarlett rolled her eyes.

"Sure, there may be something students who misbehave, but the school is very good at keeping them under control."

Lowell was the student council president of Uden Academy. The student council at Uden sucked for managing anything; that part of this video was a lie.

"From this video, it seems like Uden Academy has some well-behaved students," Emmett began. "Let's take a look at this viral video that was all over social media."

Another video suddenly filled the screen.

Scarlett recognized it instantly.

Luke slamming Eden against floor at Uden Academy.

Students crowding around them with phones raised while nobody stepped in and helped.

Then Eden dove her knee straight into Luke's nose, blood spraying across the floor as people screamed and laughed in the background.

The clip ended there.

Convenient.

"Some of our students have been a handful in the past," the headmistress admitted.

"The recent report shower that those students have escaped that place they were stuck in. This means that we are allowing students like those two monsters to roam free. Do you think it's right to let them out without facing any consequences?" Emmett questioned.

Scarlett knew that the headmistress didn't like her, probably because she was starting to uncover the truth about the claims of teachers making advances towards students. She would often blackmail the teachers that hit on her or have Greyson used his power.

"Some of those students who were trapped in that bubble were actually excellent students," the headmistress added.

"Several survivors reportedly possess dangerous supernatural abilities," Emmett continued. "How can the public feel safe knowing kids like this are back in society?"

Scarlett's grip tightened around the remote.

Kids like this.

Like they weren't human anymore.

The television then went to a commercial break, playing an ad about some new Covergirl mascara.

Scarlett stared blankly at the television screen, but her mind was elsewhere.

Cassandra should have been here.

The thought hit so suddenly it made her chest ache.

She could still picture ash scattering into the air where her daughter had stood hours ago. Every few second, Scarlett caught herself expecting Cassandra to walk through the door like nothing happened.

But she never would.

The reporters kept talking about dangerous children and supernatural threats.

It was obviously that they were not holding the person responsible for creating this substance accountable. According to Cassandra, Bella's dad was the one responsible for the creation, but those two things were just fallen stars.

All she wondered was what the hell they were doing to Greyson.

Greyson sat on his hospital bed, staring at his orange juice. The room felt suffocating, with security posted just outside his door.

This made it hard knowing if Scarlett was in this hospital.

"Why do we have to share a room?" he muttered.

He shared a hospital room with Jason, who shot him a glare from the open curtain.

The hospital room felt unbelievably sterile.

White walls. Bleached floors. The sharp smell of disinfectant lingering in the air.

Beyond the window, dark storm clouds hung over the city while apartments lights flickered in the distance.

After the shower, he changed into the thin hospital clothes, the fabric still slightly damp and rough around his skin. The shower didn't make his muscles feel any better.

He ate the lasagna slowly, though all he wanted was to walk around and find Scarlett.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the large beige door, which slowly creaked open. Greyson face twisted in disgust at the person who arrived. Heather Harp stood in the room as she stood away from them.

"We know the truth, Heather," Greyson spat bitterly.

He didn't want to talk to this woman who gave him up for adoption but worked at his school the entire time. They had actual sessions where he was forced to talk about his adopted parents, but he would never cooperate and just make up lies.

"I assumed you would," Heather sighed.

"Then why did you do it?" Greyson demanded.

Heather hesitated, her fingers tightening around the strap of her purse.

"Your father..." she began quietly, struggling to meet his eyes. "He only wanted one child."

Greyson stared at her.

"So you gave me up?" Greyson snapped.

Heather swallowed hard. "I was scared. I didn't know what else to do."

Greyson eyes narrowed.

Excuses. He didn't want to hear them.

And still—how easily it could've been avoided.

"Why keep it from me?" Jason inquired, sitting on his bed with white sheets.

Heather sight heavily, her shoulder slumped. "I thought it was safer to keep it a secret," she replied. "After your father died in a tragic car crash, I ended up remarrying."

Greyson gripped the sandwich so tightly the bread began to collapse between his fingers.

Heat crawled up his neck as Heather's words replayed in his head.

He only wanted one child.

Thrown away that easily.

Like he was nothing.

"And then everything went south," Greyson spat bitterly. "Ashley ended up killing over hundreds of people."

"I knew she had been responsible for murder, but not that much. Was it some demon that possessed her?" Heather asked.

Greyson diverted his gaze from Heather, choosing instead to focus on the small television set mounted on the corner. The screen was broadcasting one of the numerous news reports about what happened in Simcoe, showing footage of firefighters extinguishing fires.

Jason's expression darkened.

"Bella stopped it," he said sharply.

Heather frowned. "Stopped what?"

"The thing her father created." His jaw tightened. "She sacrificed herself... and she saved everyone."

Greyson wasn't the only one who seemed irritated by this confrontation.

"There were numerous charges on both of you. While there were some on Cassandra, but she had passed away according to reports," Heather said.

Greyson already knew what this was.

Charges. Blame. Damage control.

Adults needed someone to pin it on.

And they had chosen them.

"I want to be emancipated," Jason said quietly.

Silence settled over the room.

Heather looked stunned.

Greyson turned to the darkened window. The night sky stretched over the city, indifferent to their problems.

Below it, people kept moving—visiting, rushing, living—like nothing happened.

"I... I didn't mean to hurt you," Heather whispered, backing toward the door.

The hospital room had two beds and a large side window. Greyson assumed all the rooms it this ward had a similar layout, but he felt an overwhelming urge to leave.

"That was harder than I thought."

Greyson immediately turned toward the doorway.

Scarlett slipped through the room carrying a Tim Hortons bag, the smell of coffee and warm bread cutting through the stale hospital air.

"How did you get past security?" Jason asked.

Scarlett came over to him and handed him a bagel. "Plain bagel with cream cheese," she said. "They are letting some of us roam free."

Settling down to Greyson on the bed, Scarlett took a bite of a chocolate donut. For a moment, she gazed out the darkened sky, before turning back to him.

"Most of us can leave our rooms," she explained. "We have to go with security or a nurse, but there are reporters all over the hospital."

"Have they said anything about court?" Jason asked.

Scarlett shook her head and dropped in a chair beside Greyson's bed

"Maybe next week," she muttered before taking another bite of her chocolate glazed donut. "Nobody seems to know anything."

She glanced toward the hallway.

"People keep staring at us," she said. "Like we're serial killer or something."

Greyson took a bite of his bagel, but he already knew how this blame game was being played. Ashley and Divina were responsible for the majority of destruction in Simcoe. Since both of them were dead, there is nobody to blame, so it goes to the most dangerous powers.

Scarlett rested a hand against his cheek for a moment.

"I should probably go," she murmured.

She leaned in and kissed him.

"We'll get through this," she said before pulling away.

Greyson kissed her again, slower this time.

Scarlett pulled back with her famous smirk.

"This is a hospital bed," she whispered. "I don't think we can do that here."

She quietly slipped out.

As he ate his bagel, he watched the news about the investigations into finding the destruction of the power plant and the entire plaza.

Jason's remarked, "We're not getting out of this clean."

The screen flashed a photo of the burned-down Uden Academy.

Greyson jerked upright.

He grabbed his new phone off the bedside table and started scrolling.

MONSTERS.

KILL THEM ALL.

THEY DID THIS.

"We won't be cleared," he said.

There were angry and sad tweets about those who died. All of them were directed at the freaks.

While others were being loaded onto stretchers and transported to hospitals, three people had already managed to escape from their hospital rooms.

"I want Starbucks," Mia whined, tugging on Bryce's sleeve. "Iced coffee. Actual food. Not that gross lasagna."

They stood n the long corridor of SickKids Hospital, the blue walls stretching too far in both directions. Since the barrier dropped and the overflow begun, the place no longer felt like a hospital—more like a half-functioning shelter.

All Bryce wanted something besides the food they were given, since eating cold lasagna wasn't his intention.

"If you keep shouting, they will put the building on lockdown, and we'll be caught!" Bryce hissed.

They'd spent an eternity wandering hallways and riding elevators in search for a food court.

After what felt like an endless loop of elevators and identical blue corridors, they finally reached the fifth-floor.

Bryce ignored a faded "AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY" sign and turned the corner anyway.

After a few more turns, they finally reached the cafeteria. It still looked normally—white walls, bright lights, too many tables—but the lack of supervision made it feel like a food court.

On the right, there were different food restaurants, like a Subway, an express sushi place, and a little store that has prepackaged sandwiches and drinks.

Will stopped in front of the sushi display case, where colourful plastic containers showcased an array of neatly arranged sushi rolls. He pulled out his debit card, flashing it at the two of them, which was something he had on hand before they left that hell.

"Yes, sushi works," Bryce said.

They went in line in the bustling cafeteria, but he could feel all eyes were on them.

People were watching them too long.

Not openly—just quick glances that lingered half a second, followed by whispers they tried to hide.

Although he was dressed in clean clothes, he knew it was probably from their malnourished bodies and visible injuries.

When they finally reached the front of the line, they got half the menu. They grabbed numerous packaged containers filled with various items—sandwiches, sushi, and chips—stacking them on a cafeteria tray.

With a thud, he slammed the tray onto an empty table.

None of them bothered who was watching anymore. After months of being trapped behind the barrier, rules had never been an option for them.

"Maybe we should ask where Starbucks is," Will suggested, dynamite rolls in his mouth. "Then again, they probably will call security."

"We could escape the hospital and look for a Starbucks on the street," Mia said dumbly.

Bryce took a drink from his chocolate milk carton and purposely spit it on Mia's face.

"What the hell? It was a good idea!" Mia exclaimed, wiping her face with her arm.

"Mia, we have a higher chance of being arrested since we're out of that hell. We can't use our bodies to get out of our crimes," Bryce remarked.

"Darn, I thought about doing that in court," Mia said.

Bryce glanced up from his sushi when he noticed a young girl approaching them. The girl had dark hair streaked with blonde highlights, and her midnight eyes scanned the food laid out before them. She looked at the three of them, her lips pressed together.

"Do you—" the girl started, then stopped herself.

"We don't feed the homeless," Mia said nonchalantly.

"Where's Eden?" the girl asked.

The three of them stared at each other, then looked back at the girl. The last thing Bryce remembered was the sound of Eden's yelling in the halls before she got sent back to her room.

"I'm Iris," she said after a pause. "Eden's sister."

No one answered immediately.

Bryce dropped his sushi from his chopsticks. As he looked at Iris more closely, he could see the resemblance between her and Eden. They both had the same small nose, but Iris's eyes were wider and more expressive than Eden's.

"You're nothing like her," Mia remarked casually.

"I'm not?" Iris asked curiously, slowly sitting down.

Suddenly, Bryce saw two people marching toward their table. One was a girl with dyed red hair, which went down her shoulders, and she had a large cut under her chin. The other was a tall boy with messy black hair and midnight eyes, just like all of them.

"Mariah! Peter! I think I found where she is!" Iris exclaimed.

Bryce widened his eyes because it was obvious what this was. Either all of Eden's siblings were running around this hospital trying to find her, or the ones who weren't in jail at least.

"Stop following me!" Bryce heard Eden's voice yell.

Eden was being followed by a security guard who was lurking behind her. He finally stopped letting her look around the cafeteria until she spotted them with a glare.

"Stop giving us a headache," Will said, waving his hand. "You have visitors."

When Eden marched over, she stared at her siblings, her expression unreadable. He wondered if she was trying to hide her emotions, but she stared at Iris when she began crying in her seat.

"It's your siblings," Bryce said.

Iris immediately jumped up to hug Eden, who awkwardly patted her head. Peter rubbed the top of Eden's head, but Mariah continued to text furiously, as if her life depended on it.

"Is Beckham in jail?" Eden asked plainly.

"Nope, they ruled Mom's death as a suicide," Mariah snickered.

Bryce watched as a smirk spread across Eden's lips. Despite the documentary never officially stating whether it was intentional for Beckham to stab their mother or if they blamed it on suicide, people knew there was something screwed up about the Weber family.

The noise around the table didn't settle.

Then Iris spoke.

"Do you really have superpowers?"

If Bryce had to guess, Iris was around eleven years old, based on the age difference Eden has mentioned. That would make Mariah eighteen and Peter possibly seventeen.

"I can mind-control people's actions," Eden said with a smirk. "Their bodies and thoughts become numb."

"Well, if you're having a family reunion, I'm going to see my girlfriend," Bryce said with a smirk.

He grabbed a sushi box, then pushed through the edge of the cafeteria crowd.

The noise stayed behind him as he reached the elevator bank.

All the room doors were opened when he got to the tenth floor, but security loomed over the flooring. This wasn't his floor either, but they couldn't directly tell who the real freaks were.

By the time Bryce reached Emma's room, the chaos of the cafeteria felt distant. He knocked, hearing voices inside. It didn't seem like Scarlett was there, which meant she may have left as well.

Emma looked up with tears in her eyes, and a man in his late forties, dressed in a blue suit, with neatly combed brown hair, and grey eyes, stood next to her. He appeared to be very professional, holding  a sheet of paper in his hand. He wasn't a police officer, so Bryce was slightly confused.

"I brought you some chocolate milk," Bryce said, grinning.

Emma's eyes widened. She shuffled over, her hair pulled back up into a ponytail as she took the drink.

"Dad... this is Bryce," Emma said, hesitating just slightly. "My boyfriend."

Bryce felt chills down his spine.

This was something he didn't never expected to do. Meeting Emma's father was not something he had planned on, as adults were one of the last things on his mind.

"I've been helping her gain confidence," Bryce said. "She can be really hard on herself, but she's had help with that, right?"

Bryce watched as Emma slowly nodded, her face turning red.

"Were you the one who burned the counter in her science class?" her father asked.

Bryce had to choose his words carefully. He wanted to make a good impression on her father, as it would reflect on how he would always see him.

"Yup, that was me. I may have a reputation of a delinquent, but I would never hurt your daughter," Bryce said.

"It's reassuring to know that someone was there to help her through her hardships," her father added with a smile.

Bryce felt his stomach tighten. If this went badly, he knew he wasn't coming back from it.

"Wait, how did you get that? None of us have money," Emma asked.

"Will had his debit card still on hand. The sushi was okay, but I've had better," Bryce replied.

He didn't mention Will stole it.

Another thing to add to the list of crimes he wasn't thinking about.

Her father's tone stayed polite, but the question didn't.

"What exactly do you mean when you say 'delinquent activities?'"

Bryce wasn't even sure where to start. He could vaguely remember some of the wild adventures he did while high or drunk, but they were mostly a blur. Should he admit to watching Eden burn down things or using his body to get what they wanted?

"I've changed a lot since then, but used to escape from campus and do a lot of partying and illegal things when I was at Uden," Bryce said, rubbing the back of his head. "But, I helped worrywart here, who tends to fall asleep on the ground a lot. I would have to carry her back to the house she was staying at. She also has a very weak stomach too and gets easily panicked, but I love her regardless."

Bryce couldn't read the expression on her father's face. He found that his palms were sweaty because this wasn't like a homework assignment he could brush over.

"She needed someone to show her that she doesn't always have to worry," her father said. "I'm glad she found someone like you to her."

Bryce grinned down at Emma, who sipped on her chocolate milk from a straw, her cheeks still flushed from his comment.

"I just hope you two don't end up in jail with everyone else. After all, none of this should have happened in the first place," her father stated.

"Let's hope not," Bryce said, rocking on his heels and setting the sushi on the wheeling table.

"I'm going to grab some food and hopefully you'll be able to sleep, since it's late," her father said, hugging her before leaving the room.

"I think he likes you," Emma murmured.

Bryce smiled and took her hand. "Can't sleep?" he asked. "Okay, let's go to my room then."

He guided her out of her room, noticing the security guards eyeing him. They were aware of his records primarily, since he already fled his room.

Bryce repeatedly pressed the elevator button, causing Emma to freak out and pulled his hand away. "You'll break it!" she exclaimed. "And won't the doctors tell us to go back?"

He looked back at her with a smirk. "They wouldn't care, especially with Eden and her siblings in the hospital," he said.

The elevator doors finally opened and they stepped inside, surrounded by a crowd of people. It could have been between parents or siblings of those who escaped, as they went down to the seventh floor.

When the doors opened, doctors and nurses stared at Bryce. He knew they were judging him, especially since he had stuck out and gotten basically free food.

"I don't have a roommate," he said, shooting Emma a cheeky smile.

He assumed the hospital was at full capacity or because of the delinquent activities he did. He guessed both, considering what they've done in the past.

Inside the room, it was dark. Bryce set his iced coffee he took on the nightstand, which was designed similarly to Emma's room, except it only had one bed in the centre.

Emma set her chocolate milk down, her eyes glossy. He embraced her and she hugged him back.

"Every time I try to shut my eyes, the horrors come flooding back, like everything that happened with the illness," she murmured against his chest.

"I imagine," he replied softly. "That's why you'll hopefully get some sleep, right?"

Emma nodded, her eyes heavy with exhaustion.

Bryce shifted back first, then pulled the blanket aside. The metal rails of the hospital bed framed them like a cage.

"Come here," he said softly.

She hesitated, then climbed over the bars, but he reached out with his hands to help. With a gentle tug, he pulled her over, and she landed right beside him. He wrapped his arms around her, as she rested her head against his chest.

After a moment, she lifted her head slightly to kiss him, her cheeks flushed. "I love you," she whispered while putting her head back on his chest.

Bryce smiled down at her. "I love you too," he replied. "Try to get some sleep."

With a small nod, Emma shut her eyes. "I think I lost my pencil person in the chaos," she murmured.

"We'll just make new ones, but I won't burn the counter this time," he said.

He watched as she gradually fell to sleep, her breathing steady calm, with his arms securely wrapped around her. She couldn't sleep from not just the chaos, but she needed someone after all the loss.

The iced coffee sat untouched on the nightstand. Bryce doubted he'd sleep anytime soon, but Emma's breathing was already slowing beside him.

Soon enough, they'd all be in court.

They are all free... sort of.

What moments made you angry throughout the series?