Chapter 26 : One Last Dance

She looks beautiful, wearing a long black dress Elon has never seen her in before. Before he can dwell on it much, he feels Stephan’s fingers dig into his arm, spinning Elon in the other direction.

“You did not drag us here with the express intent of seeing her here, right?” Stephan’s voice is stern, but he keeps his face in a pleasant smile.

Elon shakes his head, whispering, “Of course not. I mean, yes, she is the one who told me about this place…but I didn’t expect her to actually be here. I just…I wanted to go somewhere that she’s been.”

He knows it sounds pathetic, but it’s true. He had no reason to expect to see her here, and she is the last person that he needed to see right now.

“Should we leave?” Stephan asks, straightening Elon’s tie.

“We can’t just leave, Stephan. That would be…admitting defeat. We can still distract ourselves here, right?”

Stephan closes his eyes. “I doubt it, bud. But it’s up to you, so if you want to stay, we can stay.”