Isabel has been passed out for around twenty minutes when she finally stops twitching. She's lay stretched out on the floor with her head in Arkarian's lap, kept warm with Matt's coat spread out underneath her and Neriah's coat draped across her body. Arkarian strokes her hair softly the entire time, gazing intently at her pale face. Jimmy hovers awkwardly nearby, pacing back and forth and distributing snacks and water when asked.

I, on the other hand, have spent the last twenty minutes fighting off another panic attack and contributing exactly nothing to the group's efforts. My chest is uncomfortably tight and my breathing is almost as shallow as Isabel's. Jimmy has managed to calm me down somewhat - thankfully quite discreetly. I don't need my own issues overshadowing the pain Isabel looked to be in.

She's calmer now - almost like she's asleep but having a bad dream. Arkarian has tried to speak to her a couple of times, to wake her up, but she's still unresponsive. Matt holds onto her hand, checking for any damage done to her body.

"As far as I can tell physically she's fine," Matt says. His face is tight with worry and even after giving Isabel the once over he doesn't let go of her hand. "Whatever effect the wall has had on her, it must be all mental."

Neriah crouches down next to Matt, a hand resting lightly on his arm. Whatever fight they seemed to be having earlier seems to have been put on the backburner whilst we all worry about our friend. "Did you two see what I saw when Isabel touched that wall?" she asks quietly.

Matt and Arkarian look at each other grimly, both nodding. Arkarian returns his attention to Isabel almost immediately, moving his hand from her hair to her cheek and leaving Matt to fill me and Jimmy in.

"It was a vision," he clarifies. "Or at least, it was like a vision. I've never seen one of Isabel's visions that looked like that before. Normally they're like a kind of short film in her head. This one was a mess. It was like a rapid series of photographs of random people, places, times - past, present and future. It felt like a full-frontal assault on her mind, and it came out of nowhere."

I look down at Isabel again. Her eyes are darting around wildly behind her eyelids and occasionally she'll issue a very un-Isabel-like whimper. I've seen her have visions before, of course, and they're always a scary thing to witness, but I've never seen her react like that to one. The screaming sounds she made at first were the kind of noises I've only ever heard people make when they're being tortured.

"Is she going to be ok?" Jimmy asks gently.

Matt's shoulders sag and I feel my stomach twist. "I think so?" he replies, voice breaking ever so slightly. "The problem is that after a minute or so, Isabel's mind just shut off, as if she were screening her thoughts. If I really focus I can get past her barriers, but it's difficult and she blocks me out again almost immediately."

"Can she do that?"

"She's never been able to screen her thoughts during a vision before," Arkarian murmurs. "The pain is usually too intense to focus on keeping a mental barrier up. Although… I didn't see her last vision either." He looks up again at Matt with these last words, as if they carry some significance. Apparently Isabel has had another troubling vision recently that I've missed.

Matt opens his mouth as though he's about to say something in response, but he suddenly glances down at his hand in surprise. He leans over his sister and says her name gently a few times, earning a frown in response from her.

"Arkarian?" she mutters sleepily, making both Arkarian and Matt laugh softly in relief. I feel a huge weight lift off of my shoulders and suddenly I can breathe again.

"No, it's the better looking half-immortal," Matt jokes, giving Isabel's hand a squeeze back.

"I'm here, mon

Isabel's frown deepens and she opens her eyes blearily, peering up at Arkarian's face. "My head hurts," she complains in a croaky voice. "What happened?"

"We aren't sure exactly," Arkarian replies, keeping his voice low and calm. "What do you remember?"

"I was looking at the Prophecy wall, it was freaking me out," Isabel mutters with a frown. "Then we were walking towards it and suddenly I felt like I

to be near it, as close as I could physically get. And then… I was here on the floor. I had some weird dreams."

"Do you remember what you dreamt about?" Neriah asks.

Isabel's frown deepens even further, and then she winces as she tries to sit upright. Matt releases her hand and Arkarian props her up on his shoulder so she can lean on him in her weakened state.

"I haven't felt like this since I healed Ethan after that bomb," she says. "I saw… so many things. Some things I've seen before, some things I haven't, and mostly things that just made no sense. It was like a vision but… not. Was it a vision, do you think?"

"I think so," Matt replies. "Or, maybe, lot's of visions at the same time."

"Maybe that's why I feel so shitty."

"You're alive, that's the most important thing."

"You dropped like a stone," I add. "And you were screaming bloody murder. You've had scary visions before, but that was something else."

Both Matt and Arkarian frown disapprovingly in my general direction, both less than thrilled at the idea of stressing Isabel out any further. Knowing Isabel though, she'd hate to find out later about her terrifying reaction to these 'visions', or whatever they were. She doesn't like to be coddled, and Arkarian is only marginally better than Matt at not being over-protective of her.

Isabel pushes herself upright and smiles apologetically at me. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare anyone."

"You have nothing to apologise for, Isabel," Arkarian reassures her.

"Was it worse than the rat vision?" she asks him.

Arkarian laughs and kisses the top of her head. "Well you didn't give me a black eye this time, so it was a little bit better for me. It didn't look so good for you though."

"Isabel gave you a black eye?" Jimmy asks, surprised. It's not often somebody manages to get the drop on Arkarian.

"Isabel was with me and I was unfortunately close by when her vision hit. She was thrashing around and managed to catch me off guard," Arkarian explains good-naturedly. "Come to think of it, you sat bolt upright after your last vision and headbutted my chin. I'm beginning to think that you're something of a health and safety hazard."

"Well in that case we should get this health and safety hazard back up to the surface," Matt says, standing upright and dusting off his jeans.

I take a couple of steps back instinctively, fully prepared for Mount Isabel when she erupts. Arkarian, I notice, also flinches at Matt's words.

"What? WHY?" Isabel half-yells. It's the loudest I've heard her the entire time we've been down here. Her strength has apparently surged back in response to this perceived slight.

"Isabel, you just passed out for nearly half an hour," Matt argues. "I don't think you're in a fit state to-"

"-don't tell me what I can and can't do!"

"I'm your leader! I can tell you what to do if I want!"

"I feel fine now!"

"Look at you, you can't even sit upright!"

"Whoa! Kids! Kids!" Jimmy exclaims as he steps forward, making the 'time out' signal with his hands. "Calm down!"

I'm surprised that Matt actually does back off at Jimmy's words, shrinking back down and crossing his arms in a sulk. Isabel frowns and leans back into Arkarian's shoulder, looking equally petulant. I wonder if Jimmy is using a special stepfather tone that's harder for us non-Beckets in the room to detect.

Jimmy sighs and drops his hands to his sides dramatically. He eyes Isabel with an appraising look before addressing her. "Isabel, do you honestly feel well enough to take the rest of the trip into the city?"

"Yeah. I'm feeling beat but I can do it. I know I can," Isabel replies.

"Then that settles it. Matt, we won't get far without Isabel's eyes and you know it. It will take us twice as long trying to spot the parts we need in the dark and through all that water," Jimmy says with an air of finality. "It's not like we're asking her to use her powers or do anything that will over-exert her. It's literally just going to be walking around for a couple of hours."

Matt throws his hands up in the air in exasperation. "Fine. But if she drops again I'm leaving her down there."

"Good luck explaining that to your mother," Jimmy retorts playfully.

Arkarian helps Isabel to her feet and loops his arm around her waist to keep her supported. Together they hobble over towards the entryway carved into the stone and linger there whilst the rest of us gather our packs. They look to be in quiet conversation for a moment, but I can't hear what they're saying. Whatever they say to each other seems to leave them both looking slightly more at peace than they were before.

The entryway leads down into an ornate antechamber with some beautiful reliefs carved into the side and pretty mosaic swirls across the floor. I nearly slip a few times on the tiny tiles, which are still slick with moisture from the flooding. Neriah hums appreciatively next to me as she surveys the artwork that surrounds us, completely in her element. We almost leave her behind as she hangs back to take in a particularly well-preserved carving of Medusa that hangs above the entryway we just came through, but she scuttles back up quickly as she notices us heading through heavy doors out onto a wide stone staircase.

"I'd love to bring a sketchbook down here sometime," she says as we descend towards an identical pair of doors at the bottom of the stairs.

"Why not just use your memory?" I ask. "Isn't it perfect now?"

Neriah smiles at me and shakes her head. "It's not the same. I want to have the right sort of atmosphere around me when I'm drawing a piece. Everything down here feels old and... uncharted, I guess? I don't think it would have the same effect drawing on my tablet in my bedroom as it would being down here amongst everything."

"I get that," I reply, even though I really don't. I've never been one for creativity. I actually don't have any hobbies at all, come to think of it. Most of my spare time has always been taken up by the Guard. The closest thing to a hobby that I have is riding my bike on a weekend or going to the cinema when I have a spare couple of dollars. It's nice to hear about things that other people are passionate about though - you get to learn a few things that you never knew before but nobody asks you questions about it or makes you take a test.

Through the next set of doors, Isabel puts a hand out to signal to us all to stop. We're on some kind of ledge overlooking an enormous cavern. Stairs descend on either side down into the darkness, but the room is so large I can't see to the bottom of it.

"The flooding starts here," Isabel says. "A few steps up from the bottom. Looks like it's maybe mid-chest height?"

"That's about knee-high for the rest of us," Jimmy jokes, prompting a scoff from Isabel.

Matt rolls up his sleeve and steps forward, peering over the edge into the gloom. "Arkarian can you whip some of that water into a cocoon around us? Neriah you hold it in place and I'll filter the air through as we move."

Arkarian nods and moves to unwind his whip from his belt loops where it hangs Indiana Jones style (not that Arkarian knows who Indiana Jones is) before hesitating, glancing down at Isabel who is still propped up against him for support. I step up on Isabel's other side and wrap my arm around her waist too, and she shifts to lean against me instead.

"I've changed my mind," I joke lightly. "I will take her after all."

"Take me?" Isabel asks, confused.

"She's your problem now," Arkarian laughs. He kisses Isabel's forehead and turns to free his weapon, missing the face that Isabel pulls at the kiss. I make a mental note to ask her about her weird aversion to forehead-kisses later. Arkarian kisses her there all the time, and honestly I always thought it was kind of sweet but it seems to frustrate Isabel to no end. Maybe it's a height difference thing. She hates feeling short, even though she is

tiny.

I help Isabel down the stairs with everyone else. She's not doing as bad as she looks, mostly taking her own weight whilst using me for balance. "You doing ok?" I whisper to her.

"I'm

," she insists, rolling her eyes dramatically.

"See anything cool in your thousand and one visions?"

She shakes her head with a grimace. "It really was just a mess," she whispers back. "I saw replays of old visions, some new things but everything looked to be largely inconsequential-"

"Inconsequential?"

"Yeah, it means that it wasn't important."

"I know what inconsequential means, Isabel. I'm just surprised that you do," I tease. "Dating Arkarian must be really good for your grades."

She whacks me gently in the stomach with the back of her hand, calling me a couple of equally elaborate, but slightly more colourful words under her breath.

"Sorry, you were saying," I continue.

"Yeah, anyway, I also saw stuff that just made no sense. Like there's no physical way that they happened."

"Such as?"

She hesitates, staring off into the distance. "It doesn't matter. Like I said, it was a mess. Then everything started coming in too thick and fast for me to process. I can't even begin to sort out half of the stuff I saw in my head."

I get the feeling she's holding things back on purpose, but I decide not to pry any more. Her visions have clearly upset her, and I've got lots of other questions that I want answering. Isabel is the only person I trust to give things to me straight and not pull any punches.

We reach the few steps above the water's surface. If it wasn't for the glow of our pendants reflecting off of the surface I barely would have noticed how close we were, the water is so smooth and placid. Arkarian unfurls his whip and cracks it sharply at the water, creating a deep split in it and throwing the displaced water up into two columns.

"How very Moses of you," Jimmy remarks drily.

In one smooth motion Arkarian gestures for the water to pull right over our heads and around us, just like Matt requested. I always forget how impressive Arkarian's abilities can be. I remember watching him displace a breeze when I was a kid so that he could scale a hundred foot wall. It looked like he

had wings. Even more impressively in the final battle I saw him use his whip to create a giant crevice in the ground and drop nearly twenty demons in it before sealing it over as if nothing ever happened.

Thinking of the final battle suddenly sends the world, and my mind, spinning, and before I know it I'm the one leaning against Isabel for balance. She notices but thankfully doesn't say anything, just leans back up against me harder for support.

"Are

doing ok?" she whispers.

"No," I reply honestly.

"I got you."

"And I got you."

Not for the first time, I'm incredibly grateful to have Isabel as a best friend. We stumble along together in each other's arms as Arkarian and Neriah shift water around our little band of explorers. Jimmy and Matt pace ahead of us, Jimmy's head buried in a map and Matt muttering quietly under his breath. He must be working an extraordinary amount of magic if he feels the need to chant aloud. Most things he can just do with a single thought. Isabel, meanwhile, talks about shit so ridiculous that I can't help but be distracted from my skyrocketing anxiety.

An unexpected bonus of Isabel dating Arkarian is that I'm suddenly privy to a whole wealth of new information and funny stories about my mysterious friend-slash-mentor. She's in the middle of telling me about Arkarian's first attempt to google something on her phone when Arkarian overhears us.

"Isabel, please, I am trying to retain some degree of dignity," he laughs.

"Nope, I refuse to treat someone who tried to send a text to Google with any degree of respect," she replies, sticking her tongue out at him.

"In what world does a picture of a compass signify the internet? I saw a speech bubble and I assumed it was when you ask Google a question."

"What did you think the compass icon was?"

"A compass!"

"You know, he has a point," I chime in. "Apple really does have a lot to answer for. Confusing the elderly. Disgraceful behaviour."

Isabel laughs, hugging me close to her. Arkarian rolls his eyes with a smile and focuses his attention back on keeping the water moving around us. He's more than used to jokes about his age by now, especially coming from me. Although it doesn't escape my notice that every now and then he cracks his whip again and makes Isabel and I jump in surprise. A couple of times I swear he purposefully aims across me just to laugh at the alarmed look on my face.

Before long, we start to encounter the crumbling ruins of buildings. Most of them look like houses, but others seem to have carvings in the side of them that Arkarian tells us are symbols for different types of shops.

"How far until we get to the centre?" Neriah asks.

"A while yet," Jimmy answers, glancing up from his map. "Where we are now is a sort-of ancient suburb."

"Veridian has suburbs?" I ask. "With, like, ye olde discus moms in the place of soccer moms?"

"Maybe that's ye olde McDonalds," Isabel says, pointing further into the blackness than I can make out.

We continue to shuffle along. Isabel seems to regain her strength more and more as we walk, and by the time we do reach what Jimmy declares to be the city centre her arm is simply looped with mine and she's barely leant against me. I wonder if she's healing herself or willing herself better through sheer stubbornness alone. Knowing Isabel, it's more likely to be the latter.

"We'll get pretty much everything we need from the Kalarika," Arkarian says. "It's one of the tallest buildings in the city, built entirely from white marble," he adds, presumably for Isabel's benefit as I can't see anything other than the smooth stone of the building that borders our watery cocoon only a couple of feet away.

"Kalarika?" I ask.

"It's a sort of cross between a government building and a prehistoric laboratory," Matt answers. "Dedicated to the protection and betterment of Veridian's people."

"So were the Veridians and the Atlanteans the same people?" Isabel asks, peering off into the distance.

Matt shakes his head. "Not quite. Veridian as we see it here

initially formed by descendants of Atlantis and others who joined them along the way. The rift above the woods is a powerful source of energy - it's drawn many different peoples here over time. The Atlanteans arrived here to find Aborignal communities already in the area though, and more pilgrims arrived over time. Veridian was probably the first city on earth ever to be considered truly multicultural."

"Cool. I think I see the Kally-thing," Isabel adds, pointing a little to the left of the direction we're currently heading in. "Does it have a big rod with a disc on top?"

"That's what she said." I smile at Isabel apologetically the minute the words are out of my mouth. "Sorry. Couldn't resist."

We make our way further forward to what would once have been an impressive set of doors, now rotten and partly torn away by flood damage. With a flick of his hand and very little regard for historical preservation, Matt blasts a decent sized hole in the remaining wood for us to pass through in a single-file

The atrium is huge. So big that I can't see the walls or the ceiling beyond the swirling water that Arkarian keeps moving around us. The flooring is less ornate than the antechamber we passed through at the entrance to the city, now in a more uniform checkerboard pattern. We slide past a huge pile of ruined furniture smashed up against the wall and into a large corridor, guided by Arkarian.

I wonder how Arkarian knows exactly where we're going. Not to mention the weird comment he made earlier about seeing the city when it was new. I was always told that Veridian was fenced off - a fixed point with a fiercely protected timeline, and that it wasn't possible to travel back to it.

The first room we're directed to is nestled right in what must be the centre of the building. It's filled with all sorts of machines that are centred around a large octagonal console in the middle of the room. With two concerted grunts of effort, Arkarian and Neriah push outwards, giving us an extra couple of metres to look around in. Jimmy rubs his hands together with glee and immediately begins disassembling the nearest console to him, ripping out a couple of discs from underneath it and tossing them over to Arkarian. Arkarian waves his hands and the discs disappear, presumably sent back up to his chambers.

We work for a few hours in relative quiet. I move things out of the way when requested and Isabel points things out as we move from room to room, but for the most part the two of us hang back whilst the others put the real effort in. A couple of times we work really hard to break into a room only to find what we're looking for smashed into pieces, but judging from Jimmy's buoyant mood we must be doing pretty well in our little scavenger hunt.

At last, we've apparently rinsed the Kalarika for everything that's still usable and move on to other buildings nearby, ranging from other large stately buildings to small workshops. We're in what Jimmy declares to be our last stop, in a strange tower-like building that I can't even begin to guess the original purpose of, when I finally get a chance to quiz Isabel on what I've missed. Jimmy seems to be having difficulty taking a console apart, and Neriah and Matt have to take over full responsibility of our little water bubble whilst Arkarian helps him pry the top off.

"Guess we should have bought Dillon with us too," I mutter.

Isabel stiffens next to me and doesn't do a very good job of hiding her displeasure at my comment. "You sure you're ready for how seeing Dillon will go down?"

"I've gotta see him sometime. He's one of my best friends."

"Even after everything that happened?"

Her reaction surprises me. I didn't realise that people would try and hold

, of all people, responsible for what happened. "I mean… yeah? He couldn't have known what would happen to Rochelle. And Rochelle…" my voice falters for a second. "Rochelle was doomed to die from the start."

Isabel takes my hand in hers and gives it a squeeze. Warmth spreads through me and I find myself wondering if Arkarian's ability can rub off on people or if Isabel's psychic powers are having some kind of influence on me. I look over at her to find deep sympathy coupled with concern written across her face.

"If I ask you something will you be totally honest with me?" I ask, keeping my voice low so that the others can't hear us.

"Of course."

"What have I missed? Really. I can tell something has happened and I don't think anyone is prepared to tell me what."

Isabel sighs and squeezes my hand even tighter. "A lot, Ethan. You missed a fucking lot."

"Such as…?"

"I mean, the Tribunal and Matt aren't getting along too well."

"Shocking," I reply flatly. "Let me guess, Matt is trying to do everything on his own and pushing all of the Tribunal members away whenever they try to help?"

"However did you guess?" Isabel replies sarcastically.

"It's that Becket gene. Makes you stubborn as a mule."

Isabel playfully shoves me to the side. "Shut up."

"And what else? Arkarian said you had a bad vision?"

She hesitates before meeting my gaze. "Please don't freak out," she says quietly.

"Of course not," I reply, although my stomach has already started twisting into knots at her change in demeanor.

"Do you remember that vision I had about your mum before we went to the Underworld?"

I nod dumbly. Oh no, she's seen someone else die. Was it me? Is that why Jimmy came to see me? I'm not in the best place right now, granted, but I would

do anything like that… Would I?

"Well…" Isabel trails off, chewing on her bottom lip. She sighs again and shakes her head. "Look, there's no easy way to say this. I saw myself die."

The floor falls out from underneath me - figuratively, not literally (although some parts of the floor in here do look ready to fall out underneath us).

There's a long pause whilst I process the bombshell that Isabel just dropped on me. I understand now why nobody told me about her vision - I feel like I'm breaking down from the inside.

"Do - do you know when?" I ask in a strangled voice.

"No. And honestly it may never happen. I have lots of visions that don't come true. Even me knowing about it happening could knock the whole course of events off-track. Now I know, don't go in any caves."

I almost laugh at how easily Isabel brushes off the threat on her life. She seems more concerned about how I'm taking the news than she does about her potential impending doom. How typical of Isabel to worry about everyone else before herself. If possible, I think I love her even more. I also love how stupid she can be sometimes.

"Isabel…"

"I know Arkarian's chambers are technically a cave!" she hisses at me.

Perhaps it's her irritable tone, maybe it's my mental exhaustion, or maybe I've finally cracked, but Isabel's words reduce me to hysterical laughter. I laugh so hard that I draw everyone else's attention and looks of bemusement. Tears stream from my eyes and I clutch Isabel close to me, giving her a tight hug. Pretty soon she's laughing too, doubled over and holding her sides.

"Are you two doing ok over there?" Arkarian asks, amused.

"Y-yeah, we're g-good!" I manage to choke out, wiping my eyes on my sleeve.

We eventually collect ourselves, and after a few quiet reassurances from Isabel that she really is going to be fine - yes, Ethan, I'm sure - we make our way over to the rest of the group. Just before we reach them, however, I tug at Isabel's sleeve and pull her back a few paces.

"How?" I ask.

"How what?"

"How did you see yourself die? You're my best friend and I want to look out for you - that means knowing danger when I see it."

Isabel gives me a gentle smile, touched by my display of affection. "You're sweet."

"Hell yeah I am, I'm adorable."

"Pfft. Now you're overdoing it. To answer your question, I'm not quite sure but it was like I was in a burning cage made out of light, and it was closing in on me. I think I was burning to death."

I shudder. Of all the ways to go, burning alive sounds particularly horrible. Her words confuse me though - I've never seen anything that could be even remotely described as a 'burning cage of light'. On the bright side, it should be something that's quite easy to look out for. Not many burning cages of light rolling around Angel Falls.

"Thank you for telling me," I whisper.

Isabel gives me another smile and then walks back over to the others, with me trailing a couple of paces behind her. Matt pats me on the shoulder as we regroup, a questioning look in his eyes.

"I'm ok," I say quietly.

Seemingly satisfied with my answer, Matt nods and turns to face everyone else.

"Getting out should be a hell of a lot easier than getting in," he says, voice sounding ever-so-slightly strained. He must be relieved to not have to weave any more magic down here, it's clearly taking a toll on him. "Arkarian, I trust you can take Isabel?"

"I can."

"Excellent. Then let's get the hell out of here," Matt says.

I swear Veridian forcibly ejects me as I use my wings to head back up to Arkarian's chambers. I barely have to

about Arkarian's central chambers before I find myself back there. The room is filled with haphazard piles of machinery and technology, and unfortunately my food lands squarely on one of the metal discs that Jimmy retrieved from the Kalarika, cracking it down the middle.

"Oops-a-daisy!" Jimmy appears from behind me, scooping up the cracked disc. The disc reforms in his hands, and he places it gently on top of a nearby console. "Apparently Arkarian wasn't too careful in how things arrived up here. Watch your step."

"Next time, Jimmy, I'll let you bring everything up by hand," Arkarian replies drily as he appears by the doorway, one arm wrapped around Isabel. "We'll get you a cart that you can haul up."

Jimmy laughs and raises both hands in the air in defeat. "Okay, okay, I'll stop complaining... Wait… where are Matt and Neriah?"

There's a split-second of panic before Arkarian waves his hand up the corridor to the entrance of his chambers. "They're outside. Neriah has asked that we give them a moment."

"Is this about the fight that they've been having?" I ask.

"Presumably. Jimmy would you like to get to work now or shall we wait?" Arkarian asks, changing the subject entirely (but not skillfully).

In what I can only assume is an attempt to avoid further questions, Arkarian begins tidying up the haphazard heaps of tech with Jimmy's assistance. I know I should volunteer to help, but I really don't want to accidentally break anything else, so I go to stand by Isabel who is focused on a console near the door.

"You know how to work this?" I ask in surprise. I've been in Arkarian's chambers hundreds of time over the years, but honestly I wouldn't even know where to start with using the Atlantean technology that lines the walls.

"Yeah, some of it. Arkarian has been teaching me. I'm just sending a message to Athens to let them know what we've managed to salvage." She taps out a message on what looks to be a holographic keyboard.

"I forgot to ask," I whisper. "What are Matt and Neriah arguing about?"

Isabel casts a quick glance down the corridor, then over her shoulder at Jimmy and Arkarian who are deep in conversation over a very plain looking silver box. "You know how I said shit was going down between Matt and the Tribunal?" she answers in hushed tones.

"Not your exact phrasing, I believe, but yeah."

"Well the Tribunal includes Neriah. He's… keeping secrets from her. And them."

"What sort of secrets?"

"If we knew that then they wouldn't be secrets, would they? Anyway, shut up, they're coming."

I hastily scramble my thoughts as Matt and Neriah appear in the corridor. They're holding hands, I note, but neither of them look entirely happy. Whatever truce they've called is most likely a temporary one. Fucking hell Matt, what's he thinking messing a great girl like Neriah around?

"I think we should call it a day," Matt announces. "We've been gone pretty much all day."

Jimmy dusts off his hands and nods in agreement. "Good call. I've told your mom I'm helping a friend move - I would offer you a lift but it might look suspicious if I rock up with you three when I'm supposed to be coming all the way back from Marlo."

"No worries," Matt replies. "We can walk back."

"I've already told mom I'm staying at-" Isabel sighs and glares at Matt. "-at Dillon's tonight, I guess, so you guys go ahead and use your wings."

I snort. "Why would you be staying at Dillon's?"

Isabel bristles and stares daggers at Matt. "My mom guessed that I was staying over at a boyfriend's and demanded to know who he was. Our genius leader over there decided to tell her that I'm dating Dillon."

"Dillon?" I choke with laughter. "Why not me? I'd cover for you and we would make infinitely more sense than you and Dillon would as a couple."

"I know," Isabel snaps. Clearly she's already had this out with Matt once already.

Matt at least has the decency to look embarrassed at his misstep. It's a bit of an overreaction on their part though - Isabel could do a lot worse than Dillon. He's an idiot, but he's a good guy at heart. Everyone really does seem to have banded against Dillon, and it makes me feel really sorry for the guy. I should drop him a text and ask to meet up. I'm sure he'd appreciate someone reaching out to him.

"How did Dillon take the news? I'll bet he's delighted to have such a happy and loving girlfriend," I snicker.

"I haven't told him yet," Isabel grumbles.

"Well if he's not game, you can always fake-break up with him and fake-date me instead. It would be nice to have an excuse to hang out more," I say honestly. A part of me is slightly hurt that Matt didn't think of me first, but I guess I got automatically discounted by virtue of retreating into my bedroom for weeks on end.

"I would definitely approve of that far more," Arkarian agrees to my surprise. From his tone, Arkarian is Team Anti-Dillon too.

"We don't need an excuse to hang out more," Isabel says, giving me a small hug. "You can text me any time."

"I'm gonna hold you too that," I reply, wiggling my backpack to make sure it's still in place. "On that note, I'm gonna take off. I don't want my mom to worry."

Everyone gives me a hug goodbye - luckily none of them are nearly as rib-cracking as my greeting hugs - and I set off down the mountain back home, leaving the others to sort their plans for the evening. I definitely feel lighter, and grateful for the invitation from Jimmy. As I walk I wriggle my phone free from my jeans pocket. Everyone being so kind to me, but so indiscreetly unkind about Dillon has definitely left me feeling bad for the guy. I shoot him off a quick text asking to meet up, and have an answer back within seconds:

HELL YEAH! IVE MISSED YOU MATE. LETS GO GRAB A BEER :)