A couple of weeks later, Trench invited Darling over for dinner. It was a Tuesday—long day at the Bureau, longer week already—but there was something about the quiet rhythm of cooking that helped him reset. The house was slowly coming together now. Still bare in places, but it smelled like food and not fresh paint, and that felt like progress.

Darling showed up five minutes early, as always, holding a bottle of wine and a paper bag with something suspiciously labeled "experimental spice bread."

"I'm ninety percent sure it's edible," he said, handing it over. "But the other ten percent makes it more exciting."

Trench laughed, more easily than he used to. "Let's live dangerously."

Darling's eyes swept the place as he stepped inside. "You've done a lot since the last time I was here. It's starting to feel like yours."

"I'm getting there," Trench said. "Susanna's room is still the only one that doesn't completely look lived in. But I figured I'd wait to finish it with her—she's coming the last weekend of the month. I want her to pick the decorations herself."

Darling smiled. "She's going to love that."

They ate at the kitchen table, plates balanced with the awkwardness of mismatched dishes and too many Bureau stories. Halfway through his second helping, Trench set his fork down and looked over at Darling.

"Thanks again. Not just for tonight. For everything. Letting me stay with you a while. The move, the late-night talks, the... surviving my paperwork rants. I don't think I said that enough during the divorce."

"You did," Darling said gently. "But I'll take another one anyway."

They paused, wine glasses in hand.

"How's Susanna doing? I mean—after everything," Darling asked.

Trench sighed, but it was lighter than it would have been months ago. "She's doing amazingly well, all things considered. Physically, she's fine. After the entity, the doctors couldn't believe how quickly she recovered. It's like it never touched her at all. Emotionally..." He trailed off, considering. "She remembers getting sick, not what really happened. I think that's a blessing. She knows Kate and I were scared, but I think that's all she carries from it. She's still brave. She's been strong through the divorce, but... she misses her dad."

"You're still her dad, Zach," Darling said quietly. "And you're doing the best you can."

After dinner, neither of them made a move to leave. The TV flicked on in the background—some old black-and-white sci-fi movie that neither of them really watched. Somewhere between a quiet joke and a refill of wine, Trench slouched into the couch, and without even noticing, put his arm around Darling. Darling leaned in without hesitation, head resting against Trench's shoulder.

It wasn't until a few minutes later that Darling stirred, eyes wide with belated realization. "Oh—sorry, I—"

Trench stopped him with a shake of his head. "It's okay." A pause. "More than okay."

Darling blinked. "You sure?"

Trench smiled, a little awkward but sincere. "This isn't the first time I've fallen for my best friend."

That pulled Darling out of his fluster just enough for curiosity to win. "What do you mean?"

"Casper, I... I'm bisexual. And I dated my childhood best friend. Colin. Back in my early twenties. Before Kate. We were only together for a year—if that—but it mattered. I was already with the Bureau by the time we got together. Just a rookie, maybe only half a year past training. Fieldwork got in the way. Life pulled us apart." He ran a hand through his hair. "Same as it always does."

Darling was quiet for a while, letting that sit between them. "I didn't know you were bi."

"Not many people do; honestly he was the only other one," Trench said. "I want to tell Susanna. And Kate, eventually. I just… I don't want to do it too soon. It's still all fresh. I don't want to confuse her, or make it feel like another upheaval."

"And work?" Darling asked gently.

Trench shrugged. "I don't think I'll ever come out at the Bureau. Not officially. Not with the kind of eyes on me these days. It's easier to let that part stay quiet."

"That's okay," Darling said. "You don't have to explain it. I'm just… kind of shocked. In a good way. I didn't think you felt the same way about me that I do you."

Trench let out a low breath. "It surprised me too. I think it just… crept up on me. Little by little. You were always there. And lately, that's meant more than I ever expected."

They sat in silence again, but this time, it was warm. Familiar. The kind of quiet that didn't need to be filled.

Outside, the city murmured in soft traffic and distant sirens. Inside, the movie flickered on.

And Trench, for the first time in a long time, let himself stay where he was.