No Matter What

22

The three teens are hungry, and I have to say so am I, though I'm willing to wait until we get home. Childe is reluctant, but we take the teens to get some fast food next door to the funeral parlor. We can't risk them seeing us take the body out the boot, so we have no choice but to drop them off there first with some money.

Childe hands Xiao a fifty and says they can order whatever they want. He hates the thought of them being alone in there, as do I really, but at least they'll have each other. After a thousand warnings to stay close to one another, Childe gives his phone to Xiao and tells him to call me if they need anything and we head off next door to the funeral parlor.

We unload and load the body in quickly from the back. It's still pretty light out, so I'm thankful for the tall fence and trees that block us from view. We cremate the body without issue, going back over to the fast food restaurant we left the teens and eating also in the meantime, now that the stress is somewhat relieved.

Once finished, we head home. Childe pulls into the drive, and the five of us shuffle inside. The teens all get comfortable on the sofa, talking amongst themselves, as I slide a hand onto Childe's back as he crosses my path.

"Come," I say softly, nodding up the stairs. He looks at me, then sighs, following behind me slowly as we tread up to the bedroom.

"Behave down there," Childe shouts out behind him, before we make it to the top and disappear behind the door of our room. Childe leans up against it once inside, looking me up and down. "What's up?"

I frown, approaching him gently and placing a hand on his chest. "What's wrong, my love? You've been off this whole time. Talk to me."

He slides his hands across my back, pulling me closer, my chest pressing softly against his. He takes this opportunity to kiss me and I return the favor. When we pull away again, he sighs once more, avoiding my eyes.

"It's... Lyney," he says.

My brows furrow. "What about him?"

"He's my coworker's kid."

"Yeah," I say. "That is odd. Do you...think it was a coincidence?"

"Zhongli," he says, pulling back a bit to eye me again, "this man took my kid, as well as another kid of a member from our organization. This wasn't just some random creep taking kids for his own sick reasons. This is an attack on our organization. We pissed off the wrong people, apparently. And now they're getting back at us for it."

My eyes widen as they search my husband's. "...What does this mean?" I nearly whisper the words.

"It means we're not save anymore," he says. "And I fucking left them alone in a restaurant a few minutes ago... fuck." He pulls away from me and walks across the room, sitting down uncomfortably on the bed and staring at a random spot on the rug. "I gave them a three-for-one special! Dammit... what if they came then? How could I have been so dumb?!" Childe grabs a pillow and chucks it at the spot he was staring at.

I frown again, taking a single step closer to him. "But they're okay," I say. "They're here and they're safe. It's okay."

"It's not okay!" Childe's eyes shoot at me, red with the tears he's holding back. "It's no longer safe here anymore, and it's my fault. I dragged you into this mess. You and Xiao...and now two more kids. I'm supposed to be helping save kids but instead I'm here putting them in danger."

"Childe," I say, "you've saved so many kids, including your own. I tell you this all the time."

Childe pauses, standing up, yet his eyes never leave that spot on the carpet. "We can't stay here. It's not safe anymore. We have to leave. We have to move far away, maybe even change our names. If Lyney knows about what Arlecchino does and he tells Aether, we risk getting the cops called on us and Xiao won't have parents anymore."