𝐖𝐄 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐅𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐘, 𝖺 𝗀𝗅𝖺𝖽𝖾𝗋𝗌 𝖺𝗅𝖻𝗎𝗆

like old bones

Three friends, a fire, and the weight of memory.

The Iron Lion was quiet that night.

Lanterns swung gently from the high rafters, their golden glow casting dancing shadows across the stone courtyard. The world outside still burned and shifted but here, in this brief, precious hour of stillness, time slowed.

Matt, Luke, and Hugo sat on the edge of the old fountain in the center of the courtyard, now empty, cracked, and overgrown, but still theirs.

Vicky sat cross-legged nearby, fiddling with a loose thread on her sleeve. She hadn't said much. She didn't have to. This was their space, but they'd made room for her in it. That meant something.

Luke leaned back, balancing dangerously on the rim of the fountain.

"Remember when Matt tried to kill me the first week?"

Matt didn't look up from sharpening his knife. "I didn't try to kill you. I told you to shut up."

"With a blade to my throat," Luke grinned. "Classic beginnings."

Hugo snorted. "You were unbearable. Still are."

Vicky's eyebrows lifted. "What did you even say to piss him off?"

Luke put a hand to his chest dramatically. "I called him 'soldier boy.'"

Matt finally looked up. "You called me that after stealing my boots."

"They were right there, and my feet were wet. You would've done the same."

Matt gave him a look. "No, I'd have asked."

"Exactly why you're the least fun one here."

Vicky laughed, the soft, surprised kind. Hugo smiled at the sound.

"You're lucky we didn't leave you in that tunnel," Hugo said to Luke.

"Ah, but you didn't. Which means you liked me. Secretly."

Hugo shook his head but didn't argue.

"I didn't like either of you," Matt said flatly. "I stayed because the place had walls. And because you fed me."

"And now look at us," Luke said, waving his arm. "Family dinners. Mission planning. Trauma bonding."

The silence after that wasn't heavy, it was understanding.

Vicky looked between them. "You really built all this from nothing."

"From less than nothing," Hugo said. "We built it from blood, and frost, and silence."

Luke softened. "But we did build it."

Matt met Vicky's eyes for a second, something unspoken passing between them, the shared understanding of survival.

Then Luke clapped his hands. "Right, someone else's turn to spill secrets. Vicky, tell us something ridiculous. Preferably illegal."

She smirked. "I once stole a WCKD commander's ID badge using only a spoon and a firework."

Matt blinked. Hugo looked impressed. Luke put a hand over his heart.

"I love her," he whispered.

Matt reached over and smacked him.

They all laughed.

And for a while, the night didn't feel like the end of the world, it felt like the beginning of something good.