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I freeze, I’ve nothing to say back to him, because the words hit me, because I've heard those words before. Not similar words, those exact words, in that exact register, flat and certain and carrying no apology, just a fact.

I want to keep you safe.

Ghost said it to me the same way.

I look at Miles, wondering if there’s a way I can trip him up and get him to say something that gives me more evidence that he’s Ghost.

My hand tightens around my mug. "Safe from what?" I ask. My voice comes out quieter than it was before.

There’s something going on and he isn’t telling me. I’m not backing down until he tells me something.

He looks at me for a long moment. Something moves through his expression; I wonder if he knows I might have worked out who he is?

"It’s just something I'm dealing with," he says. "Something that got closer than I expected."

"The bruising," I ask.

"Part of it."

I can feel my heart pounding in my chest at the moment. I know it’s him. Everything inside me is telling me it’s him. I look down at my wrist. At the two bracelets sitting side by side, the violet charm, and the camera charm. Fuck it, I’m either right or I’m wrong, but one thing I do know is that I’m not going to find out if I’m too scared to ask him.

I lean forward, and whisper one word, because there is nothing else to say. "Ghost."

The stillness that moves through him is immediate and absolute. It’s not shock; it’s like he knew it was going to happen sooner or later. He moves his hand under the table and places it on my thigh. He glances once around the table. Mason looks at him, and it seems like they’re having a conversation between themselves.

He leans in, close enough that I feel the warmth of him, and close enough that what comes next is just for me.

It's him. It has always been him. I turn to face him again. “You fixed my essay, well more than one of them.”

Not looking up from his phone. “You can do better, so I made it better for you. There’s a lot of things I’ve done.” He places his phone face down and slides it to Mason and Declan. They look at the phone then at Miles.

“I’m on it,” Declan says, and leave the table as if we’re all meant to know what the fuck that means.

Mason slides the phone back to him, slamming his hand on top to stop him from taking it, and then drinks his coffee.

I look at him and think about everything. He knew everything. He knew about Dan, about the money, about the savings and the doubles on weekends and the exhaustion of being the person who sorts things out.

My phone buzzes on the table. I look at it.

Ghost.

Stop staring at me before someone notices.

He's looking at his own phone, not at me. The corner of his mouth curls into a smile. My hand is shaking slightly when I turn my phone face down. I pick up my coffee. His hand is still on my thigh, it doesn't move and I don’t want it to.

“You got class?” he asks, and I nod. “I’ll walk you.”

He pockets his phone and picks up his jacket from the back of the chair and stands. I gather my bag and my camera and tell the girls I’ll call them later.

Miles walks over to Mason, leans down and says something to him, and Mason nods.

Juno watches us from across the table with an expression that could power a small city.

"See you tomorrow," I tell the table generally.

"Mm," Juno says, in the tone that means we are absolutely talking about this later and also I knew it and also several other things she's choosing not to say in public.

Miles holds the door for me and the cold morning hits me. He walks beside me, his hands in his jacket pockets.