By the ti they finally escaped the mall, the sun had already started setting over Los Angeles.
The backseat of Gael's car looked catastrophic.
Shopping bags covered nearly every surface.
One decorative candle had tipped over.
And Haley was sohow still trying to convince Alex to buy more shoes online.
"You already bought shoes today," Alex said while buckling her seatbelt in the back.
"Those would be different."
"That should concern scientists."
Gael started the engine while shaking his head quietly.
Honestly, having both sisters in the car at the sa ti created a dangerous amount of chaos.
Because together they sohow amplified each other:
Haley weaponized confidence,
Alex weaponized precision.
And Gael was increasingly becoming their shared target.
"You know what's weird?" Haley asked while scrolling through her phone.
"That phrase should legally require a warning siren."
"You and Alex actually get along now."
Alex looked up imdiately.
"We debate. That's different."
"You argued about movies for forty minutes last week."
"That was a discussion."
"You called him 'surprisingly tolerable.'"
Alex looked mildly betrayed.
"You rember too much."
Gael smirked faintly while pulling out into traffic.
For a while, the conversation drifted naturally:
music,
school gossip,
Luke apparently trying to microwave tal again.
Normal things.
The kind of conversations Gael never really had in his old life.
And honestly?
He was starting to realize how much he liked them.
Not because they were important.
Because they weren't.
No expectations.
No strategy.
No pressure.
Just people talking.
"You're quiet," Alex said from the backseat.
"I'm driving."
"You look reflective while driving."
"That's Haley's line."
"She stole it from ," Alex answered imdiately.
"False," Haley replied. "I improved it."
Gael laughed softly under his breath.
God.
At so point, this stopped feeling like "dating Haley."
It started feeling like being slowly absorbed into the orbit of her entire life.
Dangerous thought.
Especially because he wasn't resisting it anymore.
His phone buzzed through the car speakers.
Phil.
All three imdiately sighed.
"That's never good," Haley muttered.
Gael answered through Bluetooth.
"…Hello?"
"Hypothetically speaking, can smoke co from dishwashers normally?" Phil said imdiately.
Silence filled the car.
Then Alex slowly lowered her phone.
"…What?"
"I may have experinted with soap ratios."
Claire's voice exploded faintly in the background.
"PHIL!"
Gael physically closed his eyes for a second.
"How much soap?"
A pause.
"… too much."
Haley buried her face in her hands laughing.
"We leave him alone for three hours and he attacks appliances."
"I innovate under pressure," Phil defended.
"Do not touch anything electrical," Gael said imdiately.
"That feels targeted."
"It's survival advice."
The call ended shortly afterward with Claire apparently confiscating the dishwasher situation personally.
For a few seconds, the car stayed quiet.
Then Alex started laughing first.
Not a restrained laugh either.
A full one.
"I can't believe we're related to him."
"He ans well," Haley replied.
"He nearly created chemical warfare."
"Still counts."
Gael smiled quietly while watching city lights slowly begin appearing outside the windshield.
The strange thing was—
he could already picture exactly what the house looked like right now:
Claire stressed but handling it,
Phil apologizing while making things worse,
Luke probably filming the disaster,
everyone yelling over each other.
Familiar already.
That realization settled warmly in his chest before he could stop it.
"You know what's suspicious?" Haley asked suddenly.
"What?"
"You smile more around us now."
Gael glanced sideways briefly.
"It's true," Alex admitted from the backseat.
Alex didn't usually reinforce emotional observations unless she believed them.
"You were way more intense when we first t you," Haley continued.
"You an emotionally unavailable," Alex corrected.
"See?" Haley pointed proudly. "She notices too."
Gael shook his head while parking at a red light.
"I liked you both better when you argued with each other instead of collaborating."
"That's fair," Alex admitted.
Haley leaned her head lightly against his shoulder for a mont while traffic idled around them.
Then Alex spoke again from the backseat.
"You know Mom definitely likes you now, right?"
The car went briefly quiet.
Haley looked instantly smug.
Gael kept his eyes forward carefully.
"That's a weird sentence."
"It's not weird," Alex replied casually. "Mom's picky about people."
"She tolerated Dylan for like two years," Haley reminded her.
"That's because she was tired."
"Fair."
Gael hid a smile behind one hand while the light turned green again.
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