Lucas had learned that Jane did not knock like everyone else.
Most people knocked when they wanted something. Jane knocked like she already expected to be let in.
It was late, the kind of late where the apartment complex had gone quiet enough to hear a car door shut three buildings over. Lucas was sitting on the edge of his bed with one boot half-off when the knock came at the front door.
Three soft taps.
A pause.
Then one more, lighter this time.
Lucas frowned, then stood and opened it.
Jane stood on the porch with a paper bag in one hand and her other hand tucked into the pocket of her jacket. She looked relaxed in the way some people did when they weren't really relaxed at all.
"You always answer like that?" she asked.
Lucas leaned against the doorframe. "Only when I'm expecting trouble."
Jane lifted the bag slightly. "Good. I brought food, so this should qualify as trouble."
Lucas glanced at it. "That's your definition of a threat?"
"It is when I'm hungry."
He stepped aside and let her in.
---
The apartment still looked half-lived-in, which bothered him more than he admitted. Boxes stacked along the wall. A lamp he had not yet decided where to put. A coffee mug on the counter from this morning that he had not bothered to clean.
Jane looked around once, then set the food down.
"You're making it worse on purpose," she said.
Lucas raised an eyebrow. "Making what worse?"
"This place. It looks like you got in a fight with a storage unit."
Lucas snorted. "That bad?"
Jane looked at him. "I've seen better crime scenes with more personality."
He laughed quietly.
"Alright," he said. "That one was good."
Jane leaned back against the counter. "You eat?"
Lucas frowned. "That's your go-to question."
"It works."
"Yeah. I eat."
"Good," she said. "Then eat."
Lucas opened the bag, pulling out the containers. The smell hit him immediately—warm, greasy, real.
"You always do this?" he asked.
Jane glanced at him. "Do what?"
"Show up with food."
She shrugged. "You look like you forget."
"That supposed to be flattering?"
"It's supposed to be accurate."
Lucas shook his head, but there was a small smile there anyway.
He handed her a fork without asking. She took it.
They ate standing in the small kitchen, the kind of quiet that didn't feel like something was missing. Just… space.
After a minute, Jane said, "You've been quieter."
Lucas leaned back against the counter. "That's because I'm focusing on not insulting your food choices."
Jane smirked slightly. "That's not the reason."
He didn't answer right away.
"…It's been a weird couple days," he said finally.
Jane nodded like that was enough.
"You ever gonna tell me what you do?" she asked.
Lucas huffed. "No."
"Still?"
"Still."
She took another bite. "You know that makes people more curious."
"I figured."
"You don't want me curious?"
Lucas looked at her.
"Not more than you already are."
Jane smiled faintly. "Fair."
---
They finished eating without rushing it.
Jane set the empty container aside and looked around again.
"You settling in?" she asked.
Lucas glanced at the boxes. "Trying."
"You don't unpack like someone who's staying."
Lucas didn't answer.
Jane caught that immediately.
"Okay," she said. "So that's a yes."
He exhaled through his nose. "I'm not planning anything."
"You don't have to," she said.
Lucas looked at her.
Jane tilted her head slightly. "Some people always look like they're waiting for something to go wrong."
Lucas let out a quiet laugh. "That obvious?"
"Yeah."
He nodded slowly.
"…Yeah."
Jane pushed off the counter. "Come on."
Lucas frowned. "Where?"
"Outside," she said. "You need air."
"That's not how that works."
"It is tonight."
He hesitated for half a second.
Then grabbed his keys anyway.
---
The porch light cast a soft glow over the steps.
The street was quiet. No cars. No voices. Just the low hum of the city somewhere in the distance.
Jane sat first, like she'd already decided they were staying.
Lucas leaned against the railing for a second, then joined her.
"You always take over like this?" he asked.
"Only when it works."
"Does it?"
Jane glanced at him. "You're sitting, aren't you?"
"…Fair."
They sat in silence for a moment.
Then Jane said, "You look like someone who's been carrying too much."
Lucas stared out at the street. "That sounds dramatic."
"It sounds true."
He didn't argue.
"…Maybe," he said.
Jane nodded once.
"You don't have to make yourself smaller to fit here," she said.
Lucas frowned slightly. "I'm not."
Jane looked at him.
"Sure?"
Lucas hesitated.
Then looked away.
"…Maybe a little."
Jane didn't smile this time.
"Yeah," she said quietly. "I thought so."
---
A few minutes passed.
The kind of time that didn't feel rushed.
Jane nudged him lightly with her shoulder. "You always this serious?"
Lucas smirked faintly. "Depends on the day."
"That bad?"
Lucas exhaled. "It's complicated."
"That's not an answer."
"It's the one you're getting."
Jane accepted that.
"Okay," she said.
He glanced at her. "That's it?"
"That's it."
Lucas let out a quiet breath.
That was the thing.
She didn't push.
Didn't try to force answers out of him.
Just… stayed.
And somehow that made it easier to sit there.
---
Inside, his phone buzzed.
Lucas checked it when they went back in.
Jesse.
Jesse: u awake?
Lucas typed back.
Lucas: yeah
Another message came almost instantly.
Jesse: white wants to talk tomorrow
Lucas stared at it for a second.
Then—
Jesse: and dont say anything weird
Lucas smirked slightly.
Lucas: you're asking a lot
Jesse: i know
He set the phone down.
Jane was watching him.
"Work?" she asked.
Lucas nodded. "Something like that."
"Bad?"
"Getting there."
Jane didn't ask more.
Just nodded.
"Alright," she said. "Then don't make it worse."
Lucas raised an eyebrow. "That sounds like advice."
"It is."
"Not very helpful advice."
"It's the only kind I give."
Lucas huffed a quiet laugh.
"…Yeah," he said. "I noticed."
---
The next afternoon—
Jesse was already pacing.
Walter was already waiting.
Lucas was already tired of both of them.
"This isn't enough," Walter said.
Jesse threw his hands up. "We just got through everything!"
"And now we continue."
"There it is," Jesse muttered.
Lucas leaned against the car. "You really don't take breaks, do you?"
Walter looked at him. "No."
"That tracks."
Jesse pointed between them. "Why are you both like this?"
Lucas shrugged. "Because he's not wrong."
Jesse groaned. "I hate that."
Walter continued, "The product moved."
"Yeah," Jesse said. "I know."
"That means we proceed."
Jesse shook his head. "You make everything sound like a checklist."
Walter's expression didn't change. "Because it is."
Lucas looked at him.
That was the problem.
For Walter—
It really was.
---
Walter turned his attention to Lucas.
"You," he said.
Lucas blinked. "Me?"
Walter nodded. "You observe."
Lucas frowned. "That sounds like a threat."
"It is not."
"That makes it worse."
Walter ignored that. "You may be useful."
Lucas let out a quiet laugh. "That's not comforting."
"It was not intended to be."
Jesse shook his head. "Man, this is getting weird again."
Lucas muttered, "It never stopped being weird."
Walter looked between them.
Then said, simply—
"We move forward."
---
That night—
Lucas stood on the porch again.
Same light.
Same quiet street.
Different feeling.
Jane stepped out a moment later, holding a cup.
"You're back out here," she said.
Lucas nodded. "Yeah."
"Bad day?"
"Same day. Different problems."
Jane leaned against the railing beside him. "You gonna tell me what any of that means?"
Lucas looked at her.
Then shook his head. "No."
Jane nodded.
"Okay."
He waited.
Nothing.
No follow-up.
No pressure.
Just—
That.
Lucas exhaled slowly.
"…You're really not gonna push?" he asked.
Jane glanced at him. "You want me to?"
He thought about it.
Then shook his head. "No."
"Then I won't."
Lucas leaned back against the railing.
"…Yeah," he said quietly.
"That works."
---
They stood there for a while.
No rush.
No noise.
Just the porch light and the night air and the sense that, for a moment, things weren't actively falling apart.
Jane nudged him lightly. "You're still here."
Lucas looked at her.
Then smiled a little.
"Yeah," he said.
"For now."
Jane's expression softened slightly.
She didn't say anything else.
Didn't need to.
---
Later—
Lucas sat on his bed.
1:59 AM.
The room quiet.
The wall quiet.
Everything quiet.
2:00.
[Daily Pull Available]
Lucas looked at it.
Then pressed.
The spin slowed.
Stopped.
[Reward Acquired]
Paper Cup Lid
Lucas stared at it.
Then laughed quietly.
"…Yeah."
He set it on the nightstand.
Completely useless.
Just like trying to pretend things weren't changing.
Lucas leaned back and stared at the ceiling.
And for the first time in a while—
He wasn't thinking about what might go wrong next.
He was thinking about staying.