A brief pause.
"You can do the same."
Silence returned for a moment.
Then Nagelsmann added, more simply now, "And if you ever need to talk—you can come to me."
Lukas nodded.
"Thank you."
He meant it.
But something else had already started forming in his mind.
"Yeah…"
The thought came quietly.
Then clearer.
"If I want to change it… then I should just change it."
The words settled.
Locked in.
Even if nothing was certain.
Even if he didn't know whether things would play out the same way.
Even if the ripple effects of everything he had already done had shifted the future in ways he couldn't see—
It didn't matter.
Because if it hadn't changed…
Then he would.
He had been doing that from the very beginning.
Changing things.
Shifting outcomes.
Writing something different.
He wasn't going to stop now.
Not here.
Not when it mattered.
He lifted his head slightly.
Focused again.
Present again.
