Finn Lennoy-March 2121
The party is in full swing by the time the sun sets. Music fills the school, spilling out through the open windows and into the courtyard, while people dance, sing, drink and enjoy themselves. Someone has clearly decided that the speakers aren't loud enough because the music seems to get louder every few minutes, but nobody appears to care.
The kids have spent most of the evening harassing Noah and Kai, dragging them into games, asking them questions and generally refusing to leave them alone. Surprisingly, neither of them seems bothered by it. In fact, they both seem to be enjoying themselves, especially Kai, who has spent most of the evening laughing at whatever nonsense the kids are getting up to.
Looking around the room, I realise just how different everything feels tonight. There is no tension hanging over everyone, no quiet concern whenever Kai looks tired and no one constantly watching him for signs that something might be wrong. It feels like a heavy weight has finally been lifted from the school, and for the first time in months, everyone can breathe.
When Miriam calls Kai into the kitchen to help her with something, I take the opportunity to move into his seat beside Noah before someone else gets there.
"You seem to be enjoying yourself," I say, nudging his shoulder playfully.
Noah looks at me with a small smile before taking another sip of his drink. "Well, Kai is cured, so it's something to celebrate."
I watch him for a moment, and I can't help noticing how different he seems tonight. I've watched how tense Noah has been since the day we left the facility. I've seen him twitch in his sleep and wake up in cold sweats, and even when he was supposed to be relaxing at the cabins, he could never completely switch off because he was always watching Kai and worrying about what might happen next.
He never had to tell me how scared he was. I could see it every time Kai went quiet or looked unwell, and I knew exactly where Noah's mind went.
But now that Kai is fully recovered, Noah seems lighter. He looks more like the Noah I remember before everything went wrong, and seeing him like this makes something in my chest ease.
We sit beside each other for a while, our shoulders occasionally brushing whenever one of us moves. Neither of us says much, and for once the silence doesn't feel uncomfortable. The music and conversations around us fill the space easily enough.
"I wanted to thank you," Noah says suddenly.
I turn towards him, caught off guard by the seriousness in his voice. "For what?"
"For always being by my side and believing in me."
A smile pulls at my lips, and I let out a quiet laugh. "You know I have, and I always will. I'll always be by your side until the day I die."
I mean it as a joke, but the moment the words leave my mouth, Noah turns to look at me.
"Don't say that," he says quietly. "You can't die."
There is so much determination in his expression that my smile fades slightly. I've seen Noah scared before, but there is something different about this. For a moment, I don't know what to say, so I try to lighten the mood.
"I won't die. Who else is going to look after you?"
I reach over and ruffle his hair, earning an immediate protest as he pushes my hand away and tries to fix it.
"Good," he says, still attempting to put his hair back into place. "You can't leave me on my own."
He's definitely a little tipsy tonight, which probably explains why he's being so open about how he feels. Normally, getting Noah to admit something like that would be almost impossible.
"I won't leave you. You can't even make toast," I say with a grin.
He looks at me for a second before laughing, and I can't help joining in.
"That's one time," he insists.
"Three."
"One."
"Three."
"Finn."
I raise my hands in surrender, laughing as he shakes his head at me. Despite his protests, the smile never leaves his face.
I sit back in my chair and watch him for a moment, letting myself enjoy the sight of him genuinely happy. I've spent so long watching Noah worry about everyone else that seeing him relaxed feels almost strange.
The party continues around us, loud and chaotic, but I don't feel the usual need to keep track of every person in the room or watch every exit. For tonight, there is nothing I need to fix and nobody I need to protect from an immediate threat.
I just get to sit beside Noah and enjoy having him here.
And if I have anything to do with it, that's exactly where he'll stay.
I don't realise how much time has passed until Ethan drops into the seat across from Noah and buries his face in his arms, sulking like a child who's just been denied something he really wants.
"What's wrong with you?" I ask, glancing across at him.
"Kai's been too busy with everyone else that I've barely seen him," he huffs, lifting his head just enough to complain. "I caught Miriam sneaking snacks to him in the kitchen earlier, and before I could even say anything, someone else pulled him away."
I look around the room to see where Kai has disappeared to this time, eventually spotting him near the window with Monica and Gerald. Monica is clearly drunk from the way she's swaying on her feet, and she playfully punches Kai on the arm while Gerald stands beside them, both of them trying to hide their smiles as she continues whatever story she's telling.
"Why don't you go pull him to one side, sweetie?"
The new voice makes me turn just as Tessa and Daniel join us at the table. Tessa sits beside Ethan and places a comforting hand against his back, while Daniel follows behind her, helping her into the seat before taking the one beside her.
"I can't," Ethan huffs. "He seems to be enjoying himself."
"Then stop complaining and enjoy yourself," Daniel says, taking a swig from his drink before pushing a spare cup towards Ethan.
Ethan looks at it for a moment before pushing it straight towards Tessa. "I'm not drinking that. You know I hate whiskey."
"Don't waste it," Daniel says, pointing at him.
"Tessa can drink it instead."
"No way!"
Daniel suddenly reaches across and snatches the drink back, his reaction making all of us stare at him. He seems to realise almost immediately that he's overreacted and settles back into his seat, while Tessa lets out a quiet sigh.
"I can't drink," she says, placing both hands over her stomach.
We all freeze.
"You're pregnant?" Ethan asks, sitting up straight as the surprise spreads across his face.
Tessa smiles and nods.
"Oh my God!" Ethan practically shouts, only for Tessa to immediately hush him.
"Shhh! We're not telling anyone else yet."
Ethan clamps his mouth shut, although there is no hiding the excitement written all over his face. Even Noah leans forward slightly, clearly curious about the revelation despite trying to maintain some semblance of composure.
The idea of having a child while GeneX is still hunting us is concerning, and I'm sure Tessa and Daniel know exactly what kind of risks they're taking. At the same time, their decision says a lot about how much everyone here trusts Trinity. They believe this place can keep them safe, and more importantly, they believe the people here will protect their family.
Ethan doesn't waste another second before reaching across the table and pulling both of them into a hug. "Congratulations!" he says again, squeezing them tightly before finally letting go.
We all offer our congratulations, although Ethan quickly moves on to interrogating them with question after question. I lose track somewhere between asking if they've picked a name and demanding to know whether they already know if it's a boy or a girl, but neither Tessa nor Daniel seems particularly bothered by his enthusiasm.
It's only when a commotion starts across the room that our attention is pulled away from them. A small crowd has gathered around one of the tables, and when I look through the gaps between people, I immediately spot Kai sitting on one side with Gerald opposite him. The two of them are staring at each other with an intensity that would be impressive if I didn't already have a pretty good idea what they were doing.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" Monica announces, standing on top of a chair. "In the left corner, we have Trinity's best reconnaissance expert, Gerald!"
The crowd cheers loudly, encouraging her to continue.
"And on our right, the man of the hour, the Shadow Knight that GeneX hates to see coming, Kai!"
The room erupts again, and I already know this isn't going to end well.
"What is going on over there?" Daniel asks as we start making our way towards the table.
As we get closer, I notice the line of shot glasses sitting in front of both Kai and Gerald.
"First one to finish all their drinks is the winner!" Monica announces.
I stare at the glasses for a moment before looking at Kai. They've decided to have a drinking competition, which is about the worst idea they could possibly have come up with. Gerald can hold his alcohol far better than Kai, and everyone here knows it. Kai can barely keep up with a couple of drinks before he starts swaying.
Noah places a hand over his face and shakes his head in disbelief. "This is going to be a disaster."
I can't exactly disagree.
Monica begins counting down, but before she can get any further, Ethan suddenly steps forward and raises his hands.
"I hate to break up the party," he announces as he squeezes his way through the crowd towards Kai.
Everyone immediately starts booing playfully.
"I know, I know," Ethan says, laughing. "But in case you've all forgotten, Kai is still under observation after his treatment, which means he shouldn't be drinking too much."
The crowd falls silent almost immediately, and several people begin looking at each other with guilty expressions. None of them know that Edmund and Thomas have already confirmed Kai can drink without any issues, but we're not exactly going to advertise that information when it gives us a perfectly good excuse to stop him from drinking himself under the table.
Ethan reaches down and pulls Kai out of his chair before he can argue. Gerald points at him from across the table, clearly refusing to let the challenge go completely.
"Next time, I'm not letting you back out so easily," he laughs.
"Oh yeah, old man. See you then," Kai replies as Ethan drags him away.
The crowd slowly breaks apart and everyone returns to whatever they were doing before the drinking competition interrupted the evening. I watch Kai disappear through the crowd with Ethan, already knowing that we're probably better off stopping him now rather than dealing with the consequences later.
"What could possibly have made him think drinking that much would be any help to him?" Noah asks with a sigh.
I turn towards him and glance towards the doorway Kai disappeared through. "Probably the same thing that convinced Gerald challenging him was a good idea."
Noah gives me a tired look, but I catch the small smile that follows.
I look through the crowd one more time, but Kai is nowhere to be seen. Ethan has already dragged him out of the canteen, which is probably for the best. The last thing I need tonight is Kai discovering exactly how much alcohol he can drink before someone has to carry him back to his room.