By the third day, the entire safehouse wanted to throw both of them into traffic.

Nobody said that officially.

Mostly because Sofia threatened violence during breakfast.

Cassian had perfected avoidance into something almost tactical.

If Evie entered a room, he found a reason to leave it.

If she worked in the garage, suddenly he needed roof access.

If she walked into the kitchen, he remembered urgent paperwork that absolutely could not wait another thirty seconds.

It would’ve been impressive if it wasn’t driving everyone insane.

Kane stood beside the coffee machine staring into middle distance while Dominic ate cereal directly from the box.

“I can’t keep living like this,” Kane said quietly.

Dominic nodded immediately.

“The sexual tension has achieved sentience.”

Sofia walked in carrying medical files.

“You’re both dramatic.”

“The boss climbed out a second-story window yesterday to avoid making eye contact,” Kane replied.

Sofia stopped walking.

“…What.”

Dominic lifted one finger.

“And Evie threw a screwdriver at him this morning.”

“It missed,” Kane added.

“That’s somehow less comforting.”

Rain drifted softly against the kitchen windows while the safehouse sat buried beneath collective emotional exhaustion.

Upstairs, a door opened.

Everybody looked up automatically.

Evie came downstairs wearing an oversized sweatshirt and the expression of someone one inconvenience away from committing arson.

She opened the fridge.

Stared inside.

Closed it again.

Dominic watched carefully.

“How’s your emotionally devastating situationship?”

Evie pointed at him without turning around.

“I will stab you with a fork.”

“Fair answer.”

Kane pushed a mug toward her carefully across the counter.

“Coffee peace offering?”

Evie accepted it immediately.

“Thank you. Finally someone in this building understands emotional support.”

Cassian walked in three seconds later.

The entire kitchen went silent on instinct.

Cassian stopped near the doorway.

Evie looked up.

Their eyes met for exactly one second before Cassian turned toward the cabinet instead.

Kane closed his own eyes slowly.

“No,” he whispered to the ceiling. “Not again.”

Cassian grabbed a mug from the shelf.

Evie took a long drink of coffee while watching him over the rim.

“You know,” she said casually, “most people usually speak to someone after kissing them.”

Cassian focused very hard on the coffee machine.

Dominic looked between them like somebody watching a bomb timer count down.

Sofia opened a cabinet quietly and removed the headache medication.

Smart woman.

Cassian finally answered without looking at Evie.

“We already spoke.”

Evie stared at him.

“That’s your defense?”

“You threw a towel at Kane.”

“He interrupted a life event.”

Kane lifted one hand weakly.

“I’m still emotionally recovering from the eye contact.”

Cassian picked up his coffee.

Evie crossed her arms.

“So this is the strategy now?”

Cassian looked at her finally.

“What strategy.”

“The one where you kiss me like the world’s ending and then vanish into weather dramatically.”

Dominic covered his mouth instantly.

Sofia took headache medication dry.

Cassian’s jaw tightened slightly.

“I needed space.”

Evie laughed once in disbelief.

“You disappeared for nine hours.”

“It was raining.”

“That is not a personality.”

Kane physically turned away from the kitchen island and whispered:

“Oh my God.”

Cassian looked exhausted already.

Evie looked worse.

Not angry exactly.

Frustrated in that specific way people get when somebody finally gives them something they wanted and immediately acts terrified afterward.

“You know what the craziest part is?” she asked.

Cassian stayed quiet.

“I actually thought we were making progress.”

The room shifted slightly after that.

Even Dominic stopped eating cereal.

Cassian rested one hand against the counter beside him.

Small movement.

Still enough for Evie to notice.

“You are not a liability to me.”

The sentence came rougher than expected.

Evie blinked once.

“Okay,” she said carefully. “Then why are you acting like kissing me triggered a national emergency?”

Cassian looked toward the windows automatically.

Evie pointed immediately.

“There! The window thing again!”

Kane dropped his forehead directly onto the countertop.

“I’m gonna die in this kitchen.”

Sofia looked up from her files.

“No. But I might kill both of them myself.”

Cassian exhaled slowly through his nose.

Then finally:

“I don’t know how to do this.”

Silence settled hard across the room.

Not awkward this time.

Honest.

Evie looked at him differently after that.

The frustration stayed there.

So did something softer underneath it.

Dominic glanced carefully toward Kane.

Kane mouthed silently:

holy shit

Evie set her coffee down.

“You could’ve just said that three days ago.”

Cassian looked tired enough to agree.

Instead he said:

“I tried.”

“You climbed out a window.”

“There were conversations downstairs.”

“That is NOT communication.”

A laugh escaped Dominic before he could stop it.

Cassian looked toward him once.

Dominic immediately straightened.

“Respectfully,” he said, “this has become everybody’s problem.”

Sofia closed her medical folder calmly.

Then stood.

Nobody noticed immediately.

Big mistake.

She crossed the kitchen silently while the argument continued.

Evie pointed toward Cassian again.

“You are a grown man.”

“Debatable,” Kane muttered.

Cassian ignored him.

“I said I needed time.”

“You disappeared into a thunderstorm like a divorced lighthouse keeper.”

Dominic lost the fight against laughter entirely.

Then Sofia grabbed both Evie and Cassian by the sleeves at the exact same time.

The kitchen stopped.

Sofia looked deeply tired.

“I have listened to this for seventy-two hours.”

Nobody moved.

Sofia nodded once toward the hallway.

“You’re done.”

Evie frowned.

“Done with what.”

“This.” Sofia jerked both sleeves once. “Whatever emotionally constipated nonsense this is.”

Cassian looked genuinely confused now.

Rare experience.

“Sofia—”

“No.”

She started walking.

Still dragging both of them.

Kane sat upright immediately.

“Oh my God.”

Dominic nearly fell off the stool laughing.

Evie stumbled once trying to keep up.

“Why are you weirdly strong?”

“I carry medical equipment and disappointment daily.”

Sofia stopped outside the briefing room and shoved the door open.

Cassian looked at the room.

Then at her.

“Sofia.”

“No.”

She pushed both of them inside hard enough that Evie nearly walked directly into Cassian’s chest.

The door slammed shut behind them.

Then—

lock.

Dead silence.

From outside the room, Kane’s voice carried faintly through the hallway.

“…Honestly? Great leadership.”