Chapter 78: Moving Out

Astrid

We walked back toward the apartment in near silence, which was strange enough on its own. Normally Xander would be talking, or I’d be arguing with him, or Reed would be reminding us about something we’d forgotten. Today, nobody said much of anything.

I finally couldn’t take it. "Are we attending my funeral?"

"Feels like it," Xander said.

"I’m moving to the dorms. Not another kingdom."

"Same difference."

Reed gave him a look. I laughed despite myself, and the silence finally broke.

Inside the apartment, nothing looked different. My books were still on the table. One of Xander’s shirts was still thrown over a chair. Reed’s notes sat neatly stacked where he always left them. My things were mixed in among theirs, and that was what actually got to me.

I hadn’t even noticed when my things stopped feeling separate from theirs.

I walked into my room and opened the wardrobe, staring at my clothes without moving.

Xander appeared behind me. "You’re taking too long."

"I literally just opened it."

"You could’ve packed already."

"I wasn’t expecting to be evicted today."

His expression shifted. "You’re not evicted."

I hadn’t expected that reaction, and it softened something in me. "I know."

I started packing properly, folding clothes, stacking books. Then Xander decided to help, scooping several things at once and dumping them straight into a bag.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Helping."

"By destroying everything?"

"It’s clothing."

"Exactly!"

Reed walked in, looked at the bag, looked at Xander, and silently took it away from him.

"What?" Xander said, offended.

"Leave," Reed said.

"I live here."

Reed pointed toward the door. "Temporarily, leave."

I started laughing. Xander pointed at Reed. "You see how he treats me?"

"Poorly?" I suggested.

He glared at me, and I laughed harder.

They kept helping after that, Reed folding my clothes properly, Xander carrying my books while complaining about how many I owned. I sat on the edge of the bed and watched them, something tightening unexpectedly in my chest.

This was ridiculous. I’d lived in dorms before. I’d lived in far worse places. I shouldn’t have cared this much.

But before Moonshade, nobody had ever helped me pack. Nobody had argued over whether I was folding something correctly. Nobody had cared where I ended up going.

I looked down quickly, not wanting either of them to notice.

Reed did anyway. "What?"

"Nothing," I said.

He didn’t push. He sat beside me instead, and for a few seconds neither of us spoke.

"I’ve moved a lot," I said finally. "I never really cared where I ended up." I swallowed. "But I don’t want to leave here."

Reed’s expression softened. Xander went quiet.

"Don’t make that face," I said immediately.

"What face?"

"The sad one."

"He does have one," Xander said.

"Not helping," Reed told him.

I smiled.

Then Xander announced, "You can come back every night."

I blinked. "What?"

"They said you have to sleep in the dorms. They didn’t say you can’t visit."

I stared at him. Reed considered it, which surprised me more than the suggestion itself.

"He’s not wrong," Reed said.

"You both planned that quickly," I said.

"We’re brilliant," Xander said.

I rolled my eyes, though I felt better instantly. The apartment wasn’t disappearing from my life entirely.

Once everything was finally packed, I walked slowly through the space one last time, picking up a book I’d been reading and remembering arguments on the couch, studying with Reed, eating together, falling asleep here more than once. It felt embarrassing how much this had come to mean to me in only a few weeks.

I turned around. Reed waited by the door. Xander already had two of my bags.

"Ready?" he asked.

I took one last look around. "Yeah," I said, though I didn’t sound convinced.

They carried my things the whole walk over, refusing my insistence that I could carry at least one bag.

"You can carry emotional baggage," Xander said. "We’ve got the rest."

"That didn’t even make sense."

"It was funny."

"It wasn’t," Reed said.

Xander looked betrayed. I laughed, and students turned to stare as we walked. I used to hate that kind of attention.

Today I let them look.

Ivy opened the dorm room door and immediately understood the moment she saw the bags.

"Wow."

"Don’t," I said, walking in.

"I didn’t say anything."

"You were about to."

She grinned. The twins carried my bags inside, and the room felt strangely unfamiliar despite being exactly the same as I’d left it. My life had changed since I’d last properly lived here.

"You okay?" Ivy asked, noticing me looking around.

"Yeah," I said. "It just feels strange."

"Because you got used to them."

I looked away. "Maybe."

"Definitely," Xander said, and I threw a pillow at him.

Eventually they had to leave. I walked them to the door, Xander lingering while Reed checked the room one last time.

"Are you inspecting the dorm?" I asked.

"I’m looking."

"At what?"

He didn’t answer. Xander did instead. "He’s making sure nobody’s going to steal you."

Reed gave him a look. I laughed, though the laughter faded once it was actually time for them to go.

"Come tomorrow," Xander said.

"That’s not how invitations work."

"I’m inviting you."

"Text us," Reed added.

I held up my phone. "Still don’t use it."

"You will."

I looked at them both. "Goodnight."

Xander opened his arms, and I rolled my eyes before hugging him. Then Reed, quieter, briefer. He pulled back first. Xander stepped into the hallway, Reed following behind him.

I watched them disappear down the corridor before closing the door.

I leaned against it for a moment, feeling nothing at first. Then the bond settled in, stretched thin but still present, still reaching across the distance between us. I could sense Xander’s restlessness. Reed’s calm.

A strange ache followed, not pain exactly, just missing.

I walked back into the room. Ivy was watching me.

"You miss them already."

"No," I said, lying down on my bed.

My phone buzzed. Ivy raised an eyebrow.

Xander: You alive?

I typed back immediately. I saw you thirty seconds ago.

Another message came through.

Reed: Did you settle in?

Ivy caught my expression. "You’re smiling."

I covered my phone. "Go to sleep."

Later, lying in the dark, my things still only half unpacked, too tired to finish, I heard Ivy suddenly sit up beside me.

"Astrid."

"What?"

"I thought they were arriving tomorrow."

I turned. "Who?"

She was already standing. "The transferred students."

I sat up fast. "What?"

She moved toward the window, and I followed. Below, several dark academy vehicles rolled through the gates, students already gathering outside the dormitories despite the late hour. Even from this distance I could make out figures stepping out of the vehicles.

"They’re here," Ivy whispered.

They came early, I thought.

Then one of the figures below turned. Even from this height, it felt like they were looking directly up at our window.

I stepped back instinctively.

"What?" Ivy asked.

"Nothing," I said.

But the figure was still looking up.