Celeste's Apartment, Late Evening
The knock was soft, almost unsure.
Celeste opened the door slowly.
"Rhea?" Her voice lifted in surprise.
There she was, standing under the porch light with a small backpack slung over her shoulder and a forced smile stretched across her tired face.
"Hey," Rhea said, voice low. "I didn't know where else to go."
Celeste stepped aside without hesitating. "Come in."
Inside
The apartment felt smaller now with Rhea standing in the middle of it. Her eyes scanned the space like she didn't belong there—even though she was the reason Celeste did.
Celeste poured her tea, just like she always did when she didn't know what to say.
Rhea stayed standing.
"I'm sorry for just showing up like this," she said finally. "Things… got complicated."
Celeste frowned. "What happened?"
"I just need a few days," Rhea said quickly, eyes pleading. "I'll sleep on the couch. I'll keep quiet. I just—" she hesitated, then looked down. "I just need to feel safe."
Celeste didn't ask questions. How could she?
She owed Rhea everything.
Rhea had found her—bruised, lost, broken—half-dead and with no name. She was the one who took her in, cleaned her wounds, and whispered the name Nova like it belonged to her. For months, Nova was all she knew.
Until the day Rhea came in with a newspaper clipping and a wild plan.
A missing girl. A powerful family. A reward.
"You look just like her," Rhea had said. "You could be her."
And she had said yes. Because she was tired of being no one.
Now, Celeste offered a quiet nod. "You can stay. Of course."
Rhea sank into the couch, her shoulders finally relaxing. For a moment, neither of them spoke.
But the silence between them wasn't peaceful.
It was full of unspoken things.
Celeste didn't know Rhea's full story. Never asked where she came from. Why she was in the ruins that day. Why she had been so sure about Celeste.
And Rhea never explained.
But now, with Rhea here—jumpy, restless, clutching her bag like it held something she couldn't lose—it felt like something was chasing her.
Or someone.
Celeste tried to shake it off.
"She's family," she whispered to herself later that night, as Rhea fell asleep on the couch.
But the truth was, she didn't know whose family she really belonged to.