Derek saw them looking at the phone.

For the first time since Ethan had known him, his easy grin failed completely.

It lasted less than a second. Then he shoved the black phone into the pocket of his hoodie and leaned against the lobby wall as if he had only come downstairs for air.

"What?" he asked.

Lucas stepped in front of Ethan without seeming to mean to. "Whose phone is that?"

Derek laughed. "Mine."

"You already have yours."

"So I own two phones. Call the cops."

Ethan felt Lucas go still beside him. His phone had been on the desk upstairs when they left for Naomi's office. The black device in Derek's pocket was smaller, older, its cracked case held together with a strip of clear tape.

Not Lucas's. Not Ethan's.

A burner phone.

Derek looked from one of them to the other and his smile returned, thinner this time.

"You guys finally make up?" he asked. "That was fast."

"Did you take my wallet?" Ethan said.

The lobby seemed to shrink.

Derek stared at him, long enough for the question to become real.

"Seriously?" he said. "You find it under Vale's bed and now you're asking me?"

"You knew how much money was in it."

"Because you told us."

"After you asked how much I lost."

"Everybody asks how much when something is missing."

"You said you grabbed your charger from the room that morning," Lucas added. "Your charger was in the common room."

Derek's face changed again. This time, the anger was not hidden.

"Are you two building a little case against me now?"

"We're asking questions," Ethan said.

"No, you're looking for someone easier to blame than him." Derek nodded toward Lucas. "Which is funny, because five hours ago you were practically accusing him to his face."

The words struck their target.

Lucas's jaw tightened. Ethan felt the old shame rise in his chest, but he did not let Derek use it.

"I made a mistake," Ethan said. "That doesn't make you innocent."

Derek took a step closer.

"Maybe I think you're the one lying."

His hand closed around Ethan's wrist.

Not hard enough to leave a bruise. Hard enough that Ethan understood the message.

"Derek," Lucas said.

The single word was low and dangerous.

Derek did not let go.

"You show up here with cash you claim came from nowhere. You have some mystery guy sending you gifts. You make Lucas look like a thief, then suddenly you're acting like a victim because people ask questions." Derek's fingers tightened. "Maybe you should tell everyone how you really pay for things."

Ethan's face went hot.

The lobby doors opened behind them. A student walked in, saw the tension, and immediately turned back toward the sidewalk.

Lucas grabbed Derek's wrist and peeled his hand from Ethan's with controlled force.

"Don't touch him," Lucas said.

Derek's eyes narrowed. "There it is."

"What?"

"The rich boyfriend act." Derek looked at Ethan. "I knew it."

Ethan's stomach dropped.

Lucas's expression went blank in the way it did when he was furious.

"You don't know anything about him," Lucas said.

"I know he gets very protective when somebody asks where Ethan's money comes from."

"Because you are trying to humiliate him."

"Maybe he likes it."

Lucas moved before Ethan could stop him.

Not a punch. Nothing dramatic. He just stepped close enough that Derek had to tilt his head back to meet his eyes.

"Say that again," Lucas said.

Derek's bravado wavered.

Ethan caught Lucas's sleeve. "Don't."

Lucas looked down at his hand, then at Ethan's face.

The rage in him softened immediately.

"We are done talking to you," he said.

Derek gave another laugh, but it sounded forced. "Fine. Talk to Housing. Talk to whoever you want. Nobody is going to believe a broke kid who hides cash in a dorm and a guy whose family could pay people to look away."

He walked toward the elevator, then paused.

"Oh, and Cole? Your mother called the room earlier. I didn't answer. But I saw the name."

Ethan went cold.

Derek held his gaze for a beat longer than necessary before the elevator doors opened and swallowed him.

Lucas turned at once. "He saw your mother calling?"

"Apparently."

"Ethan."

"I'm fine."

"You aren't."

Ethan hated the concern in Lucas's voice because it made him want to trust it. He hated that part of himself most of all.

"I need to call her," he said.

"I'll wait."

"You don't have to."

"I know."

They went upstairs in silence.

Ethan called his mother from the study lounge instead of their bedroom. The moment she answered, he knew she had been trying not to worry.

"Honey, why did someone else answer your room phone?" she asked.

"Nobody answered it. Maybe it went to voicemail."

"It was a boy. He said you were busy."

Ethan closed his eyes.

"Did he say his name?"

"No. He sounded rude." Her voice softened. "Are you all right?"

Ethan looked across the lounge. Lucas stood near the window, deliberately facing away to give him privacy.

"I'm okay," Ethan said. "I just have a roommate issue."

"The rent money?"

His throat tightened.

"I still have it."

The lie came out before he could stop it.

"Good," his mother said. "Don't let pride make you handle everything alone, okay? Call me if you need to. I mean it."

After the call ended, Ethan sat very still.

Lucas came back to the table but did not sit.

"You lied to her," he said gently.

"I didn't want her scared."

"And you're scared."

"I said I was fine."

Lucas pulled out the chair across from him. "I know."

It should have irritated Ethan. Instead, it made the space behind his ribs ache.

"Naomi said she would ask housing security for the hallway footage," Lucas said. "We should also ask for door-access records."

Ethan looked at him.

"I mean it," Lucas continued. "If Derek used a copied key or got in while you were gone, there may be a record. And if he used someone else's ID, that is still something Naomi can check."

"You sound like you're planning a project."

Lucas's mouth twitched. "I am better with projects than people."

"I've noticed."

The faint smile disappeared. "I'm trying to be better with people too."

Ethan looked down at his hands.

"You don't have to forgive me for being wrong," Lucas said. "But please don't let Derek use what I said to keep you from protecting yourself."

The words had no defense in them. No demand.

Only responsibility.

Ethan nodded once.

The next afternoon, Naomi met them outside the residence-life office. Miles came too, visibly nervous but determined. He had written down what he remembered: seeing Derek leave their room that morning; seeing something square under his hoodie; hearing Derek ask Ethan about the exact amount of cash before anyone had explained it.

Naomi accepted the notes without comment.

"Housing security has footage from the hallway," she said. "The camera does not face inside rooms, but it shows entries and exits."

Ethan's pulse picked up.

"Will it show him taking the wallet?"

"Probably not directly. But it may establish opportunity."

"And the door logs?" Lucas asked.

"Cedar Hall uses a card system. I requested them."

Derek appeared at the end of the corridor as if he had been summoned by the sound of his name.

He was with two students from his economics class. When he saw Ethan, Lucas, and Miles outside the office, he slowed.

"What's this?" he asked.

Naomi stepped forward. "Derek, we are gathering information about an alleged theft and harassment complaint."

"Harassment?" He looked at Ethan with open disbelief. "You're filing a complaint against me?"

"You grabbed my wrist and spoke to my mother on the room phone," Ethan said.

"I said hello to someone who called. That's a crime now?"

"You implied he was selling himself," Lucas said.

The two students beside Derek looked at each other.

Derek's face reddened. "I never said that."

"You said enough."

"Of course you would defend him. You have been buying him things since the semester started."

The hallway went silent.

Naomi's expression did not change. "Do you have evidence of that, Derek?"

"Everybody knows."

"That is not evidence."

Derek looked at Ethan. Something cruel and pleased appeared in his eyes.

"Ask him about Northstar," he said.

Ethan's blood turned cold.

Lucas stepped closer, but Ethan caught his sleeve first.

"He does not get to use that name," Ethan said.

His voice shook only once.

Derek's smile faded. He had expected Ethan to retreat.

"You don't know what you're talking about," Ethan continued. "And you don't get to spread stories about me because you think I won't fight back."

Naomi turned to Derek. "You need to come to my office tomorrow morning for a formal statement. Until then, do not contact Ethan or Lucas outside necessary room logistics."

Derek stared at her.

"This is ridiculous."

"Tomorrow at nine," Naomi repeated.

He walked away without another word.

That evening, a notification appeared in Ethan's campus inbox.

Residence Life Notice: A report has been submitted alleging that Ethan Cole stole personal property from Derek Morrow and accepted money or gifts from Lucas Vale in exchange for an undisclosed relationship. A preliminary housing investigation has been opened.

Ethan read it three times.

The message was signed by an anonymous reporter.

Lucas read it over his shoulder.

Then he said, very quietly, "He wants to make you defend your life instead of asking where the wallet went."

Ethan looked at the screen until the words stopped making sense.

"What if they believe him?"

Lucas's hand hovered near Ethan's shoulder. This time he did not touch him.

"Then we give them the truth before he has time to invent another one."