Hex POV
The floor was cold.
That's the first thing I noticed after Marco shoved me.
Cold tiles. Hard impact. Pride slightly dented.
I pushed myself up before anyone could touch me.
"HEX!" Jay's voice cut through the station.
"Marco!" Jayden and Trisha said at the same time.
I brushed invisible dust off my shirt.
Marco was shaking.
"Because of you," he said, voice cracking, "my mom is here."
His words didn't hit as hard as the shove.
Jayden turned sharply. "Marco. Apologize to Charles."
"I don't need it," I said flatly.
Marco's eyes burned.
"You know," he said, voice low and poisonous, "I wish you ate all the peanut cake so that you would have died."
The air shifted.
Jay froze. "What cake?"
Marco looked at her, almost casually. "Oh. So he didn't tell you? When he came to my birthday, he ate peanut cake and got a reaction."
Jay turned slowly toward me.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"It was nothing," I muttered.
It wasn't nothing.
It was an ambulance.
It was itching skin and tight lungs and pretending I was fine.
Marco stepped closer.
Too close.
He leaned in and whispered into my ear.
"I knew she was your mother the first time I saw you looking at her."
My body stiffened.
"I started investigating," he continued softly. "And I found out you're allergic to peanuts. So I made the cake peanut."
He pulled back with a small smirk.
My chest tightened.
For a second, I didn't hear the station.
Didn't hear Jayden talking.
Didn't hear the officers moving.
Just blood rushing in my ears.
I leaned in too.
"At least I'm more skilled than you," I whispered. "And your mom is behind bars."
His jaw tightened.
"And your sweet Aunty Katherine," Marco shot back, voice barely audible, "is gone forever."
My hand lifted.
Instinct.
Pure instinct.
I saw his face.
I saw red.
Then I remembered.
Suspension. Grounded. Kitchen duty. Ice pack. Jay's face when she said she failed me.
I stopped.
My hand hovered in the air for half a second.
Then I placed it on his shoulder instead.
I squeezed.
Harder than I meant to.
"Thank God," I said through a fake smile, "I'm not punching you."
His face twisted slightly.
I realized I was pressing into his collarbone.
I eased my grip.
"Also," I added quietly, "your mom will stay in prison for a long time."
His eyes flickered.
That one hurt him.
I saw it.
And suddenly…
I didn't feel victorious.
I released his shoulder.
"I don't have a problem with you," I said more evenly. "The only reason I came closer was to say sorry. That's all."
I stepped back.
Jayden was watching me carefully.
We were not on good terms.
We never would be.
I turned without another word and walked out of the station.
The evening air hit my face.
Cool.
Quiet.
I spotted Angelo's car and got in the back seat.
I leaned my head against the window.
I wasn't shaking.
I wasn't crying.
But my hands were clenched so tight my knuckles hurt.
I closed my eyes.
I almost punched him.
Almost.
And somehow… that felt heavier than actually doing it.