"Do you want to hold Thunder's cape or should I?" Eli asked, clutching the wrinkled blue fabric in one hand, his other hand wrapped around a half-eaten banana.
Aria raised an eyebrow. "Why does Thunder need a cape for a book fair?"
Eli looked at her like she'd missed the whole point of life. "Because he's Thunder. Duh."
She gave him a soft smile and took the cape. "Alright. I'll carry it. But he's responsible for it."
"He says thank you," Eli replied seriously and ran ahead toward the front door, where Elias was crouched tying his shoelaces.
The morning had started quiet. No major battles, no sudden outbursts of emotion. Just a steady, almost unnerving calm. Aria hadn't spoken much during breakfast, letting the two of them fill the space with stories and jokes and a back-and-forth rhythm that didn't need her to interfere. She'd smiled at the right places and laughed once or twice, but her thoughts were elsewhere—stuck on things she couldn't quite name.
Now, Elias stood up, stretching a little as he glanced toward her. "You ready?"
She nodded. "Yeah."
He didn't press, didn't ask why she was quiet. He'd gotten good at not pushing.
They all piled into the car, Eli in the back with Thunder buckled beside him. Aria took the passenger seat without comment. Elias started the engine and glanced over.
"Music?" he asked.
"Whatever Eli wants."
Eli requested the Thunder theme song—which was just a mix of drums and trumpet sounds he'd insisted was real music—and Elias grinned as he hit play on his phone. The drive filled with noise, the kind of chaotic soundtrack that matched Eli's energy more than anything else. Aria stared out the window, watching buildings pass, people walking their dogs, a kid dragging a kite behind him even though there was no wind.
Her phone buzzed once in her lap. She didn't look.
When they got to the fair, the parking lot was already half full. Kids were darting between booths, balloons bounced on strings above them, and parents were juggling tote bags and iced coffees. It smelled like old books and sugar.
Eli unbuckled himself and jumped out. "Come on! We're gonna be late!"
"For what?" Aria asked.
"For everything!"
They followed him through the entrance, weaving past families and tables covered in used paperbacks, bookmarks, tote bags with reading puns, and author signings. Eli made a beeline for the kids' section, dragging Elias behind him. Aria followed, slower, her eyes scanning the crowd.
She wasn't sure what she was looking for—just something to anchor her. But everything felt slightly out of reach today.
Fifteen minutes in, Eli had already collected three free bookmarks, a thunderbolt sticker, and a flyer comic drawing workshop next weekend.
"I want to do this one," he said, waving the flyer at Elias.
"You'll need your art supplies," Elias replied. "Markers. And maybe a new sketchpad."
Eli turned to Aria. "Can we go to the art store after?"
"We'll see," she said. "We've still got the whole day ahead."
A woman from one of the booths leaned over and smiled at Eli. "What's your name, sweetheart?"
"Eli," he replied. "I'm an author."
Aria glanced at Elias, who just shrugged like, well, he's not wrong.
The woman beamed. "Oh! What did you write?"
"A comic book. About Thunder. He's my imaginary tiger. But also real."
The woman handed him a pin shaped like a pencil. "Well, Author Eli, good luck with your next book."
"Thank you," Eli said seriously, pinning it to his shirt.
They kept walking. Elias leaned closer to Aria. "He's working the crowd."
"He gets it from you."
"Nah," Elias said. "You're the quiet one with the good ideas. I just talk too much."
Aria didn't respond. Instead, she paused by a booth selling used classics. The smell of old paper pulled at something familiar. She used to love browsing used books. Saturdays before Eli. Even before Elias.
"You okay?" he asked after a moment.
"I'm fine," she replied, picking up a copy of The Bell Jar and putting it back down.
Elias stood beside her, not saying anything for a minute. The silence between them wasn't uncomfortable, but it wasn't easy either.
"You don't have to do this," he said finally.
She looked at him. "Do what?"
"This. The whole... family outing thing. If it feels too much."
She tightened her grip around her purse strap. "I'm here, aren't I?"
"Yeah," he said, meeting her eyes. "But I don't know what that means anymore."
She exhaled and looked past him toward Eli, who was showing a volunteer his comic. "I don't either."
He nodded as he understood, and maybe he did. Elias always had a way of picking up what she didn't say out loud.
Later, they sat on a bench near the food trucks while Eli devoured a cookie the size of his head. Aria held his water bottle. Elias had gone to get coffee.
"He likes being with you," she said when Elias returned, handing him a bottle of chocolate milk for Eli.
"I like being with him."
"He trusts you. I didn't think that would come back this quickly."
"It didn't," Elias said. "It took time. You just weren't there to see it."
She flinched slightly but didn't argue.
They sat in silence again, watching families walk past. Aria leaned forward, elbows on her knees.
"I thought I'd feel... clearer," she admitted.
Elias didn't say anything.
"I thought after everything—after the space, the time apart—I'd have some kind of answer in my head about us. But I don't. I just keep going in circles."
"I know."
"You do?"
"I've been living in the same circle," he said. "Different side of it."
She glanced at him. "What if it's always like this? Just… stuck?"
"Then we're stuck together," he replied without hesitation. "Or not. I don't know either."
Eli interrupted before she could answer, waving them toward another tent. "They're doing book trading! Come on!"
He took Elias's hand without hesitation, then reached back for hers. She hesitated for half a second before taking it.
That small gesture—the three of them walking hand-in-hand—felt louder than anything spoken. It didn't fix anything. It didn't erase the confusion or the fear. But it was something.
By afternoon, they'd done three laps around the fair. Eli was tired but still buzzing. He insisted on stopping for one last thing: a custom bookmark stand.
He wanted one with Thunder's name on it.
While the vendor carved the wood, Aria sat on the grass. Elias joined her, stretching out his legs. They didn't speak for a long time.
Finally, she said quietly, "Do you ever think we gave up too fast?"
He looked at her, his face unreadable. "Yeah. All the time."
"I don't know if I'm ready," she said.
"To try again?"
"To be disappointed again."
Elias nodded slowly. "That's fair."
"But I don't know how to stop… hoping either," she added, her voice almost a whisper.
"I think about the night you left," he said, voice carefully. "I still wake up sometimes thinking you're just in the other room."
She looked down at her hands.
"I didn't leave because I stopped loving you," she said.
"I know."
"Love wasn't the problem."
"No," he agreed. "It was everything else."
They sat with that.
Eli came bounding over, waving his new bookmark. "Look! They spelled Thunder right!"
Aria smiled, taking the little piece of carved wood. It was light, barely big enough to hold all the letters. But somehow, it felt important.
"Let's go home," she said quietly.
They didn't talk on the ride back. Eli fell asleep halfway through, head tilted toward Thunder's cape, bookmark clutched in one hand.
Aria watched him through the rearview mirror. Then she turned to Elias.
"I'm not promising anything."
"I'm not asking you to," he said.
"But I don't want to run away from it either."
He looked at her. "Okay."
She nodded.
And for now, that was enough.