Page 65 of The Replay

He laughs. A few heads turn to us.

"Funny," he says. "I've never felt famous."

"Can you go out on the street and not get attention?"

"Sometimes."

"Famous enough, then."

He shakes his head in such a way, it reveals a thread of sadness stitched onto the moment.

"It doesn't matter," he says. "In the grand scheme of things."

The group has steadily snuck up to us as we talked, and they finally reach us. Evie studies Dom and me, and I have to wonder how much of our conversation she heard. I thought she'd been busy chatting with the rest of them and her fiancé, but she seems naughty enough to pay attention to everything at once.

I give her a smile just in case.

"Hey, Mariana," Saint says. "We're having a get-together in ten days to watch Ames' show's release. Would you like to join us?"

Dom stares at me, waiting for my answer. I can't read if he'd rather I said no, but just a few minutes ago he said he'd get used to it. He better not have lied.

I nod at Saint and Ames. "I'd love that, if that's okay?"

They insist, and start telling me all about their plans.

Dom sighs. "I have the details already. Going to head out."

"Leaving?" Logan asks.

Dom doesn't look at me but nods. His face looks calm in a way that confirms he's learning to be okay with the relationship I'm building with his friends. Theway his lip curls at the corner tells me it's real. This isn't him pretending to look unaffected.

I take a slow, deep breath, and let a smile of my own take over my lips.

"Goodnight, everyone," he says. "Time to rest. We earned it."

Without much more, he pats a few of his friends' shoulders and leaves. A surprising new wave of nostalgia cascades through me, to see him disappear through the door. He didn't actively say good night to me… but there was no fight. No friction.

Despite everything, we're finding our way to peace. Like the conversation we had in the elevator helped us grieve what we had years ago. Finally. Years too late. To the point I can finally admit I've missed him and, now that I see him walk away with some sort of acceptance for what is— this new state of things between us— I can hope for friendship one day with him too.

It may be too optimistic a hope, but I'm in Seattle to go big and go home.

When I turn to everyone again, they're staring at me.

"What?" I ask.

"I guess the irritation is gone," Pen says.

Yeah. They were all paying attention. I'll give it to Dom— he was right. His friends keep tabs on everyone in their circle. Just like my parents. And while both sets of people have good intentions, the little I've seen makes me think these friends have a different goal. For them it's not about success and security, but caring for each other's happiness. It's such a big difference, I'm here hoping to be invited into their village.

"We talked," I finally say. "It's going to be easier to be around each other now."

"That's great." Ames grins. "It means we can let go and let you witness the true power of our group."

"Are you saying I haven't?!"

But they laugh, and it makes me wonder if there's any chance they would ever accept a simple truce between him and I.

As long as they're happy to push for friendship alone between us, I think I'll be okay.