James looked confused for a moment before blinking. He looked hesitantly at Laurel before looking back at Yue, shaking again. Slowly he opened his mouth and repeated what he had said.

“… Do you understand?”

“Yeah… I never even considered-“

“It’s alright, we were both played.”

“Nic, we need to go back. We need to explain everything.”

“I know… I’ve missed you, Yue.”

“… I’ve… missed you too.”

“We’ll leave tonight,”

“Okay. But what about Laurel? She’ll try to stop you.”

“I’ll deal with her. I’ve realized now… she’ll never be able to understand us. I can’t love her because she’s not one of us. She’s not in our world.”

“Do you love me?”

“I’ve always loved you.”

Laurel only made it about halfway through before her hands flew to cover her ears and she started screaming for it to stop. James finished and then cowered further behind Yue. Laurel looked like she might fall over, hands still covering her ears and her eyes squeezed shut.

Even Yue seemed a little effected by James' words. But Yue let Laurel be, rubbing James's arm a little.

Suddenly Laurel tore out of the room, running blindly down the hallway.

James reached down and hugged Yue, picking her up off the ground slightly as his shaking continued.

After a little while, Yue hugged James back. She'd leave it up to someone else to take care of Laurel.

Laurel ran right into Kandy, nearly knocking her over. Kandy fussed over Laurel's hand, leading her right to the infirmary.

Kandy was a little surprised to see Nic awake, giving him quite a glare as she pulled Laurel to the other side of the room and started to nurse her hand. Laurel felt completely numb, letting Kandy lead her wherever. She didn't appear to even notice Nic.

Nic didn't seem to notice them for awhile either. The edge of his scarf over his eyes.

Laurel finally turned and looked at Kale, who was watching her closely.

"... Kale?" she asked in a quiet, blank voice.

"mmm?" he replied.

"Can... James really..." she stopped, not knowing how to describe what she had heard.

"Can James what?" Kale asked. Laurel didn't continue.

Nic's hand twitched a little, but he didn't say anything.

"Kale?"

"Yeah?"

"Was Nic really out until recently?"

Kale was silent for a moment, "Yeah. He just woke up." Laurel didn't respond for awhile but she looked Nic's way.

"He was unconscious since taking the drug?"

"Mmhmm, he was given a sedative which in combination with the drug nearly killed him so he definitely was out," Kale affirmed.

"He didn't wake even for a little bit?"

"... Laurel..."

Nothing from Nic.

"Stop talking about that boulder," Kandy complained as she continued to work on Laurel's hand. Laurel was silent as Kandy finished up and pulled her to her feet. "Let's go!"

Laurel put up no protest as she was dragged from the room.

Meanwhile, James had fallen asleep again, this time hugging Yue.

Yue sighed a little. This was gonna become a thing, wasn't it?

About two hours later the door to the infirmary opened again. This time Laurel came in alone. Kale had fallen into a light sleep again. She quietly shut the door behind her to keep from waking him as her eyes remained focused on Nic's bed.

Nic was just how they had left him.

After a moment's hesitation, Laurel walked over and took a seat beside Nic's bed. She didn't say anything for a long time, just watching him.

"I thought I'd lost you," she finally whispered in a tired voice.

Nic didn't respond. Maybe he was asleep.