Chapter 7 #2
The words settled, more decision than apology.
Because now he knew how to fix what he’d damaged.
He needed to help her, give her consistency, predictability.
She had asked for clear expectations and a space to settle instead of constantly forcing her to readjust around him, so that’s exactly what he’d do.
Make himself someone safe for her nervous system instead of another thing it had to defend against.
Declan reached for his phone at last, something steadier settling underneath the guilt now. Because Riley had spent the entire day trying to meet him where he was.
Now it was his turn to meet her there instead.
?
Declan hung up the phone a second before the front door opened. He set the phone down without looking at it, dragging a hand briefly through his hair as he shifted back into the couch.
“Mate, I’m gone for one game and when I come back, you’ve broken the internet.”
Tyler’s voice carried in ahead of him, followed by the sound of the door closing and keys hitting the counter. Ebony trailed just behind, her smaller hand slipping free of his as she stepped into the room on her own terms.
Declan glanced up, one brow lifting slightly. “Bit dramatic.”
“Have you actually looked at your phone?” Tyler asked.
“I’ve glanced at it.”
“Don’t,” Tyler said immediately. “It’s chaos. Mum’s already texted me asking if she needs to meet your ‘lovely psychologist girl.’”
Declan huffed a quiet laugh, shaking his head. “That didn’t take long.”
“Mate, you challenged her on live TV,” Tyler said, dropping onto the arm of the couch. “What did you think was going to happen?”
Declan didn’t answer. His attention had already shifted. Ebony had moved further into the room, her gaze tracking slowly across the space, taking it in piece by piece. She didn’t rush to fill the silence, didn’t look for direction. She was great at observing.
“Hey, Ebony,” he said, his tone softening without thought.
She looked up at him after a moment. “Hi, Uncle Declan.”
“How was school?” Her gaze dipped briefly, then shifted sideways. No answer came.
Tyler exhaled under his breath. “She’s had a big day. School was… a lot.”
Declan nodded once. That was enough. He didn’t push it. Instead, he leaned forward slightly, resting his forearms on his knees.
“I met someone the other day,” he said. That got her attention, Ebony looked at him properly now.
“What’s her name?” she asked.
“Riley,” he said. “Dr Riley Lorrent.”
Ebony repeated it once under her breath, like she was testing how it fit. Then she looked back at him.
“I think you’d like her,” he added.
A small tilt of her head. “Why?”
Declan considered it for a second, then answered plainly.
“She thinks differently,” he said. “She notices everything, needs it to make sense before she can do anything with it.”
Ebony was quiet for a beat, processing. “That sounds like me,” she said simply.
Declan’s mouth shifted slightly. “Yeah,” he said. “I thought so, too.”
A small pause settled between them, and then he pushed himself upright.
“Actually,” he said, like the thought had just clicked into place, “if you’re up for it… I could use your help.”
Ebony’s attention sharpened. “With what?”
“I want to rearrange my home gym,” he said. “Make it easier to follow. Less all over the place. I think Riley would really like that.”
She considered that immediately, her gaze flicking toward the hallway like she was already picturing it.
“Okay,” she said.
Tyler watched the exchange from the side, something in his expression easing slightly.
“Don’t let him make you do push-ups when you’re down there, Ebony,” he called. “He’s known for that.”
Declan glanced back, a faint smile pulling at his mouth.
“She’ll be fine. Better than you, actually.”
The home gym sat lower in the house, separated from the rest of the space in a way that made it quieter, more separated.
It was smaller than the commercial gym they’d filmed in earlier, though far more intentional in its layout.
Everything had a place, with clear sections with defined purposes.
Declan watched Ebony step inside. She paused just past the threshold, her gaze moving slowly across the room, taking in the layout. Noticing everything, always noticing.
He leaned back slightly against the wall, giving her space to process without interruption.
“What do you think?” he asked after a moment.
Ebony didn’t answer immediately. She moved instead, walking toward the weights, then stopping halfway, her attention catching on the resistance bands hanging along one side.
“They’re not in order,” she said finally.
Declan’s mouth shifted slightly. “Yeah?”
She nodded, stepping closer, her fingers brushing lightly over the bands without fully touching them. “They go from light to heavy, but the colours don’t match the order.”
He pushed off the wall, moving to stand beside her. “Show me.”
She pointed, small but intentional. “That one should be here,” she said, indicating a shift in placement. “And that one there. So it makes sense.”
Declan adjusted them without question. “Better?” he asked.
Ebony looked at them again, longer this time. “Yes.”
She moved further into the room, her attention shifting to the open space in the centre. “Too much here,” she said, gesturing vaguely. “It’s empty but not empty.”
Declan let out a quiet breath, something in his chest tightening in a way that had nothing to do with the room. “Yeah,” he said softly. “I get that.”
Because he did. More than he had this morning. He watched her move again, making small, subtle adjustments in how she stood, where she looked, what she engaged with and what she avoided. It wasn’t random. None of it was. It was structured. Just not in a way most people recognised. Riley.
The thought surfaced without resistance. The way she’d described it. The layout. The sequencing. The way things didn’t sit right when they didn’t follow a pattern she could anticipate.
He had been right. He’d just needed to see it from her different angle. Declan straightened slightly, his focus sharpening as something settled into place.
“Alright,” he said, more to himself than to Ebony. “We can work with that.”
“Work with what?” Tyler’s voice carried down the stairs as he came into the room, one hand dragging absently along the railing before he stepped off the last step.
He didn’t look at Declan straight away. His attention went to the gym setup, scanning it in that half-distracted way he usually did when he walked in.
His gaze moved again, more deliberately this time, like something wasn’t lining up with what he expected.
“… Wait.”
Declan glanced over, following his line of sight without saying anything yet. Tyler stepped further into the room, looking properly now. “Did you change this?”
“No.”
Tyler frowned slightly, still looking. “Something’s different.”
Declan tipped his head toward Ebony, who was crouched near one of the benches, adjusting something small with quiet focus. “She did.”
Tyler looked at her, then back at the room, then back at her again like he was trying to reconcile the two. “… Seriously?”
Ebony didn’t look up. “Yes.”
He let out a quiet breath, almost a laugh, shaking his head as he turned in a slow half-circle. “It actually makes sense now.”
Declan’s eyes narrowed slightly at that. Tyler kept going, not really thinking about it. “Like before it just looked like you’d put things wherever they fit. This actually…” He gestured vaguely. “Flows.”
Declan said nothing. Ebony nodded once. “It does.”
That did it. Declan straightened a fraction, something in his posture shifting. Tyler didn’t notice. He was still looking around, mildly impressed in a way that felt unfiltered. “I mean, it’s kind of wild she fixed it that quickly.”
Declan exhaled slowly through his nose, then turned toward the kitchen. “I was going to order food,” he said.
“Yeah?” Tyler replied, distracted.
“I’m not doing that anymore.” That got his attention. Tyler glanced over. “Why?”
Declan opened a cupboard, like the answer was obvious. “I’m cooking.”
Tyler blinked. “You’re what?”
“Cooking,” Declan repeated.
“… On purpose?”
Declan pulled something out onto the counter. “Yes.”
Tyler let out a short laugh, already walking after him. “Alright, that feels like it’s about my comment.”
“It is.”
Tyler leaned against the counter, watching him for a second. “We still ordering takeout later, yeah?”
“No.”
“We are,” Tyler said easily.
Declan didn’t respond, already moving, already committed. He headed back toward the kitchen without waiting to see if they followed, pulling open the fridge like he had something to prove now.
Behind him, he could feel Ebony linger for a second longer before turning back toward the gym. Toward what she’d changed.
Declan reached for a chopping board, setting it down with more force than necessary.
“Don’t burn the house down,” Tyler called, not moving from where he stood.
Declan let out a quiet breath, dragging a hand through his hair. “Relax.”
“I am relaxed,” Tyler said. “That’s why I’m concerned.”
“It’s better,” Ebony said simply.
Declan stilled for half a second, caught less by the words themselves and more by the certainty behind them. He nodded once to himself before he even realised he was doing it, despite the fact she couldn’t see him.
Yeah, it was. And if it worked for her… His grip tightened slightly on the edge of the counter before he forced it to ease, then it could work for Riley too.