The Second Time Feels Like Home
It started with a text.
Shirley [6:08PM]: Bring him. We promise to behave.
Avelyn [6:09PM]: Unless he’s weird. Then all bets are off. 😉
Rhea laughed out loud, phone screen still glowing in her palm, then glanced at Lucian. He was crouched on her living room floor, coaxing the droopy Monstera back to life with the reverence of a priest tending to a fragile confession.
“You want to meet my friends tonight?” she asked, half teasing, half terrified.
Lucian looked up, a smudge of soil across one cheekbone and his hair rebelliously falling into his eyes. “Will there be food?”
“Yes. And judgment. Possibly mild psychological warfare.”
He wiped his hands on his jeans and shrugged. “Perfect. I thrive in hostile environments.”
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The place was familiar: a caf
