"Okay, but answer me properly. No lazy answer like the one you always give when you're trying to dodge."
Lucas laughs before he answers. A quiet, automatic laugh.
"I'm not dodging."
"Yes, you are."
Helena nudges his shoulder as they walk. "When you say 'it depends,' it means you've already decided you don't want to think about it right now."
"I just think it really does depend."
"On what, Lucas?"
She drags out his name, amused. "The weather? Planet alignment? The mood of the history teacher living inside you?"
He shakes his head, laughing again.
"It depends if you're being serious or if this is another one of those questions you throw out just to watch my reaction."
"Oh, so you admit you watch my reactions too."
"I'm dating you," he says simply. "It'd be weird not to."
She smiles, satisfied.
"Alright."
She takes a deep, exaggerated breath. "Hypothetically. Just hypothetically. What would you do if I decided to move to another city, try for a better job, make more money than you, become super important, and completely forget this neighborhood exists?"
He doesn't answer right away. Not out of discomfort. He's calculating the tone.
"First."
He raises a finger. "You'd never forget this neighborhood. You complain about it every day."
"I complain because I love complaining," she laughs. "Don't mix things up."
"Second."
Another finger. "You wouldn't leave without telling me."
"But I'm telling you now."
She grins. "I'm being mature. Communicative."
"Third."
Another finger. "I'd probably pretend everything was fine, say I support you, make that understanding face… then spend weeks thinking about all the stupid things I should've said earlier."
She bursts into a short laugh.
"You're terrible at selling yourself."
"I'm realistic."
"You're dramatic."
She rests her head on his shoulder for a second. "But I like that."
They keep walking. The pace doesn't change. The conversation stretches without urgency.
"And you?" he asks. "Would you really go?"
"I don't know."
She shrugs. "Sometimes I want to. Sometimes it feels like if I stay here forever, I'll start repeating the same lines, making the same jokes, complaining about the same things… and one day I won't even notice anymore."
"You already repeat the same jokes."
"But I notice."
She pokes his arm. "That's the point."
He laughs again.
"You wouldn't last long away."
"Oh yeah?"
She raises an eyebrow. "Why?"
"Because you miss people fast."
He says it without irony. "You pretend you don't, but you do."
She walks in silence for a few steps.
"Maybe."
Then she smiles. "You would too."
"I don't pretend."
She laughs louder now.
"See? That's why I like you. You're bad at lying."
They walk a few more blocks. The topic drifts, circles back, wanders again.
She talks about a coworker. He makes a sideways comment. She overreacts. They laugh together. Easy. Familiar.
"Lucas."
"Yeah?"
"Have you ever thought about leaving here?"
He thinks before answering. Not for long
"Yeah."
Then adds, "Just never for very long."
"Why?"
"Because here is… I don't know."
He searches for the word and doesn't find it. "Comfortable."
"Comfortable isn't always good."
"But it's not bad either."
She nods.
"True."
Then adds, "Sometimes I feel like if we're not paying attention, something ends up deciding for us."
He lets out a short laugh.
"Now you're getting philosophical."
"I get that way when I walk a lot," she jokes. "The circulation helps."
"You should write that down."
"You should stop correcting everyone."
They laugh together.
"Okay, last serious question."
She stops walking for half a second, just to give it weight. "Promise you'll answer without irony?"
"I promise."
"If one day I just didn't come home… would you know it wasn't because I wanted to?"
The question lands wrong.
Lucas feels the internal shift before he thinks.
"What kind of question is that?"
"I'm serious."
Her tone stays light, but her eyes are too focused. "Answer."
"Of course I'd know."
He answers quickly. "You don't disappear. You tell people. You explain. You complain."
She smiles, relieved.
"Okay."
She takes a deep breath. "That's all."
They start walking again.
Lucas tries to fit the question back into the tone of the conversation. He can't. Something stays loose.
"Why did you ask that?"
"I don't know."
She shrugs. "Sometimes that stuff scares me."
"What stuff?"
She takes a moment to answer.
"Being forgotten."
Then laughs, trying to shake it off. "Wow, listen to me."
He opens his mouth to reassure her.
"Relax, you're—"
Helena stops walking.
Not abruptly. Like the step just doesn't continue.
"Lucas."
Her voice drops. It doesn't shake. "You feel it too, right?"
"Feel what?"
She doesn't answer right away. Looks over his shoulder, too quickly to be curiosity.
"It feels like we're not alone."
Lucas follows her gaze. He doesn't see anything that justifies the sentence.
"Helena—"
"No."
She cuts him off. "Don't tell me it's in my head. Just answer."
He takes half a second longer than he should.
"I noticed it a while ago."
His voice is low. "I just wasn't sure."
She exhales sharply.
"See."
A nervous laugh tries to surface and fails. "I knew it."
They keep walking, more alert now without saying it out loud.
The corner gets closer.
"If this is a prank, it's not funny," she says.
"It doesn't feel like a prank."
They turn.
A man stands ahead. Not too close. Not far enough.
"Hey."
The voice is steady, effortless. "Stop right there."
Lucas feels his body adjust before he thinks.
"What's your problem—"
No time.
Something yanks his arm from behind. Hard.
Another weight hits from the other side.
Hands grab.
His body reacts.
He twists and throws an elbow blindly. A body stumbles back. A dull thud.
The other one doesn't let go.
Helena shouts his name. Short. Cut off.
Lucas forces his arm free and shoves. One of them falls back.
He steps forward.
Sees Helena being pulled.
"Let her go!"
He moves.
A third man steps between them.
Lucas tries to dodge.
Can't.
Something hits the side of his head.
Short. Sharp.
The world tilts.
The ground rises.
Dark.
—
Lucas comes back without warning.
Cold on his face.
Wrong weight.
He inhales badly.
Opens his eyes.
The light is the same.
The silence isn't.
He tries to move. His body responds late.
"Helena?"
Nothing.
He pushes himself up with contained effort. The movement comes out crooked. He adjusts. Manages.
She's not there.
The street is too empty.
"Helena."
No answer.
He turns slowly. Like the space might give something back.
It doesn't.
Lucas pulls out his phone. The screen lights up. Normal.
He types her name.
Deletes it.
Types again.
Calls.
It rings.
Rings.
Stops.
The silence presses now.
He remembers her voice.
It feels like we're not alone.
Something doesn't fit.
He can't find where.
Lucas stands still too long.
By the time he notices, she isn't anywhere that answers anymore.