The night ended softly.
Not because everything was fixed.
Because everyone ran out of strength to keep breaking.
Blade sat with them a little longer. Long enough for Iris to stop staring like he was a dream. Long enough for Alice to stop pretending she didn't care. Long enough for Ryu to get sleepy and try to sit on Blade's foot like it was a pillow.
Long enough for his mother to relax her grip on his sleeve without realizing she'd done it.
Then the silence returned.
The kind that didn't feel warm.
The kind that reminded Blade why he had lived alone for a year.
His father insisted he sleep in the mansion.
His mother didn't insist.
She begged.
"Just tonight," she whispered. "Please. You don't have to decide anything. Just… stay."
Jack stood a little away, arms crossed, acting like he didn't care.
But his voice came out rough. "Yeah. Stay. You can leave tomorrow if you want. But stay."
Ryu yawned and waved dramatically. "If you leave, I'll tell everyone you're emotionally cold again."
Alice rolled her eyes. "Ryu, stop blackmailing him."
"It's not blackmail," Ryu said, offended. "It's bonding."
Iris smiled small, then looked at Blade like she was afraid of the answer. "We made up your room… sort of."
Blade looked at them.
All of them.
A part of him wanted to say yes.
Just to stop the hurt in their eyes.
But the bigger part—the part that survived Iron City, Winterland, and loneliness—didn't trust warm rooms.
Not yet.
"I can't," Blade said.
His mother froze. "Why?"
Blade's voice stayed calm. "Because this place… isn't mine."
Jack's jaw tightened. "It's literally your house."
Blade met his gaze. "It's your house."
That made Jack flinch.
His father stepped forward, controlled. "Where will you go?"
"My place," Blade said. "Back in the city."
His mother's eyes widened, panic rising again. "Alone? After all this? Blade—"
"I'm used to it," he said.
"That's not an answer," Jack snapped.
Blade didn't argue. "It's the truth."
His father's expression hardened. "If you walk out that door, you don't get to disappear again."
Blade nodded once. "I won't disappear."
His mother's voice broke. "Then don't leave."
Blade's throat tightened slightly. He didn't show it on his face. But Jack saw it anyway. Jack always noticed when Blade was fighting something inside.
Jack stepped closer, lowering his voice so it didn't cut the room.
"Is it because you think someone's coming?" Jack asked. "Because you're scared you'll bring trouble here?"
Blade paused.
Then shook his head. "No."
Not trouble.
Not enemies.
Just himself.
He didn't say that.
Instead he said, "I need space."
Alice finally spoke from the stairs, voice cool but eyes not. "So you can decide if you want us or not."
Blade looked at her.
"I already decided," he said.
Alice's brow furrowed. "Then why are you acting like this?"
Blade held her gaze for a moment.
Then answered honestly.
"Because I don't know how to be here," he said.
The words landed heavier than any confession.
Iris's eyes softened.
Ryu blinked like he didn't understand, then shuffled forward and hugged Blade's leg with all the strength a small kid could manage.
Blade didn't move.
Ryu mumbled into his coat, "Then learn."
Jack stared down at Ryu like he wanted to tell him to let go.
But he didn't.
Blade looked down at the kid clinging to him.
Then reached down and patted Ryu's head once.
Small.
Awkward.
But real.
"I will," Blade said.
Ryu let go like he'd completed a mission. "Good."
Blade turned to his mother.
"I'll come back tomorrow," he said. "In the morning."
Her face twisted like she didn't trust promises anymore.
Blade added, quieter, "I'm not leaving you again."
That did it.
Her eyes spilled over. She nodded fast, like if she didn't nod the moment would fall apart.
His father walked him to the door personally.
No words. Just footsteps.
At the threshold, his father finally spoke.
"You have a room here," he said. "Whether you sleep in it or not."
Blade nodded.
Jack stood behind them, hands in his pockets, looking away like he didn't want Blade to see his face.
"Text me when you get home," Jack muttered.
Blade paused. "Okay."
Jack glanced at him sharply. "Don't say okay like it's a contract. Say it like you mean it."
Blade's mouth twitched.
"I mean it," he said.
Jack scoffed, but it sounded relieved.
Blade stepped outside.
Cold air hit his face again.
The mansion door closed behind him.
And for a second, the warmth inside felt like a dream he didn't deserve.
He walked down the driveway alone.
No gate guards this time.
No intercom.
Just snow and night and the quiet city lights far below.
When he reached his apartment, the silence greeted him like an old friend.
He set his coat down.
Sat on the edge of his bed.
And stared at the wall for a long moment.
He had gone back to his family.
He had spoken.
He had stayed long enough to hurt.
Now he was back in the only place that didn't ask him to be anything but alive.
His phone buzzed once.
A message from Jack.
Jack: You better not be lying about tomorrow.
Blade stared at it.
Then typed two words.
I'm coming.
He hit send.
And for the first time in thirteen years, Blade fell asleep with a promise waiting for him in the morning.