OBSIDIAN

~Chapter 30~

I already got to school this time, only by myself and not with Sergio.

He wasn't in the house. He became invisible

Emy and Theo were at the same tree as yesterday but this time Theo had a glass in his hand and Emy was on the bench next to the tree.

"Hey" I say after I approach them and leave my backpack on the same bench with Emy.

"Good morning " greeted Theo and Emy at the same time.

"How did you sleep?" Emy asks and stares at me

"According to Sergio, 'like dead'" I say and Theo laughs softly.

"Well, did he sleep with you?" Emy asks and I see her face turn a little whiter

"Yes" I say simply and I drink some water too

"Why?

" She says and I see Theo spitting out what he's drinking there and coming next to us on the other bench

"Don't ask me.

" I say but I pause "why do you care?" I look at her suspiciously and I see that I've grabbed her by the tail because the pupil of her eyes has shrunk.

"Nothing, I was just asking" she says and gets up.

"Let's go Ash and Niko must have arrived by now" she continues

I get up from there and head towards the school entrance

"I thought Sergio was lying to me" I say and stretch out. Theo chuckles softly and that brings a small smile to my lips.

We enter the history class because today was our first history class, and we head straight for the last seats by the window.

When I want to sit down in the place where I was sitting, Theo takes my arm

"What?

" I look at him angrily because he won't let me sit down

"You sit there" he says and points with a chair below where there were three empty seats.

Bingo. Where I and them were going to sit.

I glare at him and say "I don't want to" but before I can say more Ash appears out of nowhere and takes my arm, I go to the front of the chair where I have to sit and sit down. Niko appears shortly afterwards with two coffees in his hand and sits on the side with the window, and I'm in the middle.

Niko hands me one of the coffees without saying anything. He just looks at me briefly, with those eyes as if he knows exactly what I'm thinking before I have it.

"Thank you," I murmur and take the glass. It's warm, almost too warm for my cold hands.

Ash sits down next to me, too relaxed to be innocent.

His arm touches mine for a brief, deliberate moment.

I hear him exhale slowly, as if he’s settling into the exact spot he’s supposed to be.

“You’re a little late,” he says, but his tone is…

different. It’s not reproachful. It’s a check.

Like he needs to know why.

“I talked to Emy and Theo,” I say and shrug, trying to sound indifferent.

I feel Niko turn his head toward me.

Slowly. Too slowly.

“About?” he asks, just as the teacher starts writing something on the board.

“Nothing important,” I answer, but my voice comes out harsher than I mean to.

The teacher starts to speak, but all I can hear in my ears is my heartbeat

At some point, Ash rests his elbow on the edge of the bench and leans slightly towards me, close enough that I can feel his breath on my temple.

“And… Sergio?” he asks. Low voice. Controlled.

Dangerously calm.

“He wasn’t home,” I say.

Niko raises an eyebrow, without turning his head.

Ash just keeps looking at me.

Too fixedly.

Too deeply.

“He became invisible,” I add, quietly.

And they both… stop.

As if I’ve just said something he shouldn’t hear here.

Ash rests his arm on the back of my chair, a seemingly casual gesture that surrounds me like a small warm wall.

Niko puts down his coffee and leans slightly toward me, his pupils constricting.

"Cassian..." he says softly, but the professor slaps his hand on the desk just then.

The moment is broken.

But they don't relax.

Not even a millimeter.

Both of them are focused on me, not on the lesson.

And it makes my skin tingle.

I don't know if that's good.

But it doesn't seem bad either.

---

When I get up from the bench and the bell rings, I realize how tense I've been between Ash and Niko the whole time.

They didn't touch me "accidentally."

They touched me on purpose.

And I don't know... maybe I don't even like it.

But I don't think about it too much. I've learned that thinking too much about weird things makes them even weirder.

We push our way out of the history classroom.

It’s crowded, students laughing, stomping, pushing.

But right behind me I feel Ash. A millimeter behind me.

So close that if I stopped suddenly, I could feel him all over.

Niko walks to my right, a little ahead, but his gaze keeps turning to me, as if checking me out.

I run my hand over the back of my head, slightly embarrassed by how close I am.

“Come on, Cass,” Ash says, his voice low, too low.

He puts his hand on my shoulder blade and guides me gently through the people.

His hand is warm. Too warm.

I should push him aside, I think.

But… I don’t.

I don’t know why.

We head down the stairs to the lower hallway.

It’s empty there, just a few windows letting in the cold morning light.

I’m about to check my phone, to see if I have any messages from Sergio, but Ash is in front of me first and takes the phone from my hand.

Quickly. Calmly. As if he has every right to.

“Hey..” I start.

But he holds it up between us, glances at the screen briefly, then puts it back in my palm.

Fingers trailing over mine. Too slowly.

“You’re fine,” he says, but not in an observational voice.

A voice of possessive acknowledgment.

As if my notification report belongs to him.

“Sergio didn’t say anything?” Niko asks, moving closer.

He places his hand on the cold radiator, almost blocking my exit from the space.

“No.” I shrug. “He wasn’t there when I woke up.

I assumed he left early.”

Ash tilts his head.

A small movement, but in his eyes I see something…

hard to define. An intensity that isn’t normal.

Not even friendly.

More like an animal that has just found something to protect.

“He’s not leaving so early,” I mutter.

“Not without saying something.”

“Maybe he was in a hurry,” Niko says.

“What’s all the fuss about?”

But neither of them laugh.

In fact, they both stop in front of me, almost simultaneously.

Ash approaches first. His palm lands on my jaw, his thumb touching the corner of my mouth.

Not roughly, but… deliberately.

My breath catches.

Not from fright. From something I don’t want to name.

“If he’s upset you with something or someone is upset with you with something…

” he says quietly. “You don’t say.”

Niko reaches over and grabs my wrist where Ash had held it for me earlier in class.

He holds it between his long fingers, as if checking to make sure they’re intact.

“No one’s upset him,” I say, and pull my hand away slowly.

Niko doesn’t fight back. But he doesn’t look pleased either.

Ash finds me for another second, then he lets his hand fall, but he doesn’t move away. Neither of them move away.

I’m standing too close.

So close I can feel their warmth, as if they've sandwiched me between two temperature transmitters.

I swallow hard and take a step back.

They take two steps forward.

They isolate me between the wall and them without touching me.

Almost.

“Hey,” I say, trying to mimic a relaxed tone, “I’m not a kid.

”

Niko raises an eyebrow.

“No? You say that, but you look at us like you need us to stay here.”

I let out a “what?” louder than I meant to.

Ash kisses the corner of a smile, something very small, very rare.

“Stop denying it.”

Before I can answer, I hear footsteps.

Theo.

When he sees us, he lifts his jacket over his shoulder and comes straight to us.

“Bro, I was looking for you-” he starts, but stops when he sees how close we are.

He looks at me. At Ash. At Niko. Then back at me.

“Ahem.” He clears his throat.

“All three of you… yeah.”

“What do you want, Theo?” Niko sighs, not even looking up completely.

Theo picks up the phone.

“Sergio wrote to me.”

I raise an eyebrow.

Ash’s jaw tightens instantly.

Niko straightens like a taut wire.

“And?” I ask.

“He just says he’s out, I’ll be back later.

That’s it.”

A normal sentence. Very normal.

And yet, the tension between Ash and Niko doesn’t ease.

Theo approaches me and places his hand on my shoulder, in a calm gesture.

"It's okay, Cass. He's coming back."

Reflexively, I nod. But at that moment, Niko grabs Theo’s wrist and pushes his hand away.

Not roughly. Very controlled.

But clearly.

Theo looks at him with a “seriously?” look in his eyes.

“Don’t touch him,” Niko says. Not loudly.

Not aggressively. Just… determined.

Theo sighs, throws his hands in the air.

“You guys are impossible" I swear.

“Let them go,” I say, and walk past him.

To my surprise, Ash and Niko let me pass.

But they follow me immediately, like two shadows glued together.

We walk into the inner courtyard, where there are stone tables and a spot where Emy usually sits. I can still see her from a distance: she’s sitting on a bench, eating a plum and checking her nails.

When she sees me, she closes her phone and looks up.

But her reaction is not normal.

It's not "oh, Cassian came".

It's "Cassian came... and he came with them".

I thought they knew each other... I could have sworn

Her eyes move from me to Ash. From Ash to Niko.

From Niko back to me.

Her pupils narrow.

Just like yesterday.

“Hello… everyone,” she says, and her voice sounds fake sweet.

“Hi,” I answer and sit down on the bench next to her, out of reflex.

But I barely put my bottom on the wood when Ash sits right next to me.

So close that his knee touches mine.

Human heater.

Second time today.

Niko sits on the other side.

Also next to me. His knee touches my thigh.

That strange feeling again: I’m locked in between them.

Protected.

And… I don’t know if it’s bad.

Emy tries to keep her smile, but her eyes quickly shift to our physical contact.

“You… stay with them today?” she asks, chewing slowly.

“Yeah,” I say.

“All the time?” she insists.

“Probably.” I drink some coffee. It’s good.

Niko got me exactly what I like. People always get their coffee right.

I don’t know how.

“Mhm,” Emy mumbles.

She puts down her plum and rests her chin in her hand.

“Interesting.”

For a moment, she looks only at Ash.

Then only at Niko.

Then only at me.

I don’t like that look.

It seems… analytical.

Like he’s trying to understand something I don’t.

Theo sits down next to Emy.

“Don’t start,” he tells her.

“Cass doesn’t need to be interrogated.”

“I’m not interrogating,” she says, but her voice doesn’t help.

“I’m just observing.”

“You’re just observing,” Niko mutters.

Ash sips his coffee, leaning his elbow on the bench behind me.

Emy raises an eyebrow and smiles wryly.

“Mhm. Of course you say that. I see you’re guarding him like a wolf cub today.

”

When he says that, Ash almost turns his head to her, a snarl in his eyes.

Niko reaches his arm around my back.

Behind my neck, actually.

I feel it. Warm.

Heavy. Too protective.

And… I don’t move away.

Emy notices. And her expression changes slightly, as if she understands something he’s not telling me.

“Cass,” she says. “Are you really okay?”

“Yes,” I say.

“Just tired.”

“Tired,” she repeats. “Why?”

Ash answers before me:

“He just slept badly.”

Theo nearly chokes.

Emy stays still.

So still that I know her mental process has stopped and restarted.

“Ah.” She fakes a smile. “I knew that but nah...”

“It’s no big deal,” I say, trying to detach myself.

“Just sleeping. That’s all.”

“Mhm,” she says. But she doesn’t believe me.

As we talk, I find myself with Niko’s fingers touching the back of my neck, where I held my hand earlier.

Just a small, controlling touch. Like he’s checking to see if I’m shaking or not.

And I realize that… I like it.

I shouldn’t.

But I like it.

Ash places his palm on my thigh, as if he’s putting it there for convenience.

It’s not convenience.

It’s possession.

And I… take a deeper breath. That’s it.

Emy sees. Her eyes blink slowly.

“Cassian…” she starts, but Theo puts his hand on her shoulder.

“Leave him. It’s none of your business.

”

She bites her lip lightly.

“It’s a little bit of my business.

”

“No, it’s not,” Ash says, calm but cold.

“Mind your own business.”

His tone is so…

protective that a shiver runs down my spine.

Theo looks at him in surprise.

Niko rests his forehead on my shoulder for a second.

Just a second.

Then he moves away, but long enough to leave me with confusion in my chest.

“Sergio’s coming later,” Theo finally says.

“That’s what he wrote.”

“Okay,” I mutter.

I drink my coffee.

I look at everyone.

Today, like every time, I feel like everyone is spinning around me.

That I’m in a net.

But they’re not suffocating me.

He’s holding me.

Ash leans over and whispers in my ear:

“You stay with us today. No matter who else shows up.”

Niko touches the back of my neck with two fingers again, in a sort of unconscious but electric way.

And I… I don’t say no.

I don’t say anything.

And I don’t even want to think about it too much.

It’s too early.

And way too weird.

But I don’t get up.

I don’t leave.

I don’t back down.

I stay there, between them.

Right where they want me