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It was Raven Day once more, which is all Ronan thought when he woke up with the sun that day, like every day. He rolled out of bed and shouldered into a t-shirt, chasing Opal outside toward the fields, the cattle, the hay bales. With a soft smile, he remembered that Adam would be coming home today. They all would.
Adam walked into the Barns, dropping his duffle bag with a dull thud. Like every time he entered the home, he was struck by the perfection of it. Everything, down to every knick knack and gadget, was intentional, wanted. Now, so was he. He was torn from his thoughts when something crashed into his leg, gripping his calf tightly. He laughed, placing a hand on Opal’s head and patting her hair.
“Hello,” he murmured, lifting her up and kissing her cheek gently. “Where is he?”
“Kerah!” she shrieked, pointing straight ahead towards the kitchen. Adam carried her all the way into the field, up the winding hills of green grass, and into the space outside the shed where Ronan was feeding squawking chickens. “Kerah!” Opal shrieked again when he came into view. Ronan looked up, startled but not showing it. Unashamed, he bared all his teeth in a wide grin, jogging towards both Opal and Adam.
“You’re early,” Ronan mumbled around a kiss. “I would have— if you’d—“
“I called. You never answer.” Ronan couldn’t argue with this, so he only shrugged. He looked down at Opal who was laughing gleefully. He ruffled her hair and took her down, watching her gallop towards the chickens as Chainsaw flew protectively overhead as always. Before he looked back, Adam had his arms around him, shyly tucking his head into the crook of Ronan’s neck, holding onto the strap of his overalls. “It’s good to be home.”
“Missed you,” Ronan whispered like he was in a dream, scared of waking the third sleeper. Adam hummed contently, joining Ronan in overlooking the kingdom of dreams.
Blue sprinted across the pavement like her life depended on it, her laughter bouncing off the walls of the parking garage. Beside her, Gansey pushed just ahead, laughing triumphantly as he tapped the trunk of the engineless orange Camaro— Piglet. Instead of tagging the Camaro, Blue fell against Gansey as he wrapped her in his jacket. She inhaled mint leaves and old books and airplane.
“It’s not a competition,” she stated before he could begin to gloat, muffled by his t-shirt.
“Right,” he agreed and she could feel his smirk through her head where his chin rested.
“You guys,” came a whine from several yards away. “Why did you run?” Henry Cheng spat “run” as if it was the dirtiest curse he knew in any language.
“Because,” Blue said, her lips spreading into a smile. “we’re going home.” It was the reminder that Henrietta did not have to be her final destination that made returning home so sweet. It was the fact that she was returning from Venezuela that made her more excited to embrace the familiarity of the Virginia drawl and the chaos of 300 Fox Way. “Yeah, home,” Henry huffed, bending over with his hands on his knees. He was excited, just breathless.
“Come on, Prince,” Gansey laughed, placing the keys in Blue’s hand and curling her fingers around them with a wink. She knew as well as he did that he liked when she drove. “We’ve got to get you in shape before Morocco.”
Blue wrenched open the door to the driver’s side, thrumming with excitement. Home, home, home, home.
Blue had always wondered about the inside of Aglionby Academy. She wondered about the aged walls, the lockers, the writing on the bathroom stalls, the stacks of books upon books, the pristine tile. She stumbled out of the bathroom stall, holding her heart in surprise when she found Adam there. He grinned, eyes twinkling, holding his arms out to her. She hugged him tightly and turned, gesturing to her zipper. He helped, pushing her hair gingerly out of the way of the clasp. Before taking the stage, Blue needed to change, settling for one of her less tattered navy dresses. The boys would be wearing their old Aglionby sweaters— except Gansey. Rain-drop-covered or not, it still horrified her slightly.
“How are you, Ivy League?” Adam positively beamed at this, but at the floor. He tucked his hands in his pockets and swayed in the way that suggested he could not believe his own life.
“I’m great,” he answered honestly. “It’s… everything, everything I worked for. And then some. Honestly, it’s kicking my ass.”
“Nothing you can’t handle, I’m sure,” she chirped confidently.
He chuckled, but did not reply. “How was Venezuela?”
“It’s everything,” she echoed. “Gansey and Henry are a handful, but I’m managing. I can’t tell you how many times we nearly landed ourselves in prison, because one of them got distracted by who-knows-what.”
“Nothing you can’t handle, I’m sure.”
Now, they both beamed at each other. Adam had been her best pen pal since she began traveling, and she was glad for it, considering she was unsure about where they stood in the thick of things before graduation. He wrote about his homesickness, his studies, and Ronan. She wrote about her homesickness, her whereabouts, and Gansey. Their echoes helped them reform their initial connection and move forward, together.
“Come on, Raven Boy,” said Blue, walking on her tiptoes to throw an arm over Adam’s shoulder.
Gansey wasn’t nervous, exactly. He still felt guilty, sometimes, that he was the one to survive and Noah was not. That was getting better, though, since he started using every day to its fullest potential. And these were just kids, after all. They would hardly listen. They didn’t care what he had to say. He wasn’t doing this for them. He was doing this for Noah, for all of his star friends who found themselves remarkably in the same constellation.
“Hey, Dad,” came a voice from behind him. Gansey turned away from the curtain he was hiding behind while he peered out at the crowd of students filing in.
“Hello,” he greeted, trapping Ronan in a hug that he pretended to protest. Gansey let him.
“Opal missed you,” said Ronan, clearing his throat. “Says I don’t read to her as well as Uncle Gansey does.” Gansey understood that Opal missing him meant Ronan did, too.
“Do you do the voices? The sound effects? If you’re not making it a 4-D experience, what’s the point? A good bedtime story—“ Ronan waved him off.
“She’ll live, as long as I let Chainsaw sleep in her room.” Gansey smiled at the thought of Opal’s room, a paradise of dreams in Aurora’s old bedroom.
“Speaking of—“ Before Gansey could finish, Ronan pointed upwards. Gansey followed his finger to the top of the curtains where Chainsaw was perched.
“Declan and Matthew have Opal for a couple hours,” Ronan added. He plucked the crumpled piece of paper from Gansey’s jacket pocket, not bothering to open it before crumpling it some more and burying it in the pouch of his overalls. Gansey began to protest, thinking of the notes he had yet to memorize, the notes he’d written on the plane ride. “You don’t need them. It’s Noah.”
“You’re right.” Gansey tried to replicate Ronan’s sure tone. He thought he did okay.
Just then, Blue danced in through the stage door, followed closely by Adam. The four of them stood closely together, all looking out into the sea of faces, some familiar and some not. Henry was visiting Litchfield House, likely wreaking havoc on the newer residents. Adele Czerny was already quieting the crowd, giving her introduction. She kept it short, as she preferred to do. She was relieved when they approached her, asking to address Aglionby Academy, and she didn’t question whether they knew Noah or not. They walked onto the stage under the guise of recent graduates, but they all knew what Noah had meant to them. He would live on in their memories, in their dreams, and on each of their wrists where there were small tattoos in his honor. It turns out that Gansey really didn’t need those notes. Instead, he talked to the other Raven boys like the people they were. He talked about unexpected dreams, wishes that do not come true, bravery, friendship, and Noah.
There were so many cupcakes. Declan was best at buying cupcakes.
The whole island in the kitchen of the Barns was covered in food, but everyone was there to help eat it. All of 300 Fox Way pretended not to be fascinated by the Barns. Opal weaved in and out of the legs of the tall grownups with Chainsaw on her tail. Blue received a book of poems and a bracelet with a golden tree charm from Mr. Gray and a timid Artemus who stood a step away. Adam made a quick call to the trailer thirty minutes away with Ronan glued to his side. Henry took it upon himself to eat an entire package of chocolate cupcakes.
Everyone mingled, taking turns at telling each other about their recent adventures. It was the first time in a long time that no one had to talk about the supernatural parts of Henrietta unless they wanted to. In that moment, all demons slept, the ley line was calm, and everyone was awake.