Gael woke up in the morning to three missed calls from investors, two unread emails from reporters, and one text from Haley.
[Dad thinks you secretly know karate]
A second ssage appeared imdiately after.
[Also, Mom asked why you always look like you're planning sothing]
Gael stared at the screen before laughing quietly to himself.
[Your family is exhausting.]
Her reply ca seconds later.
[And yet u keep coming back]
That was the problem.
He did.
Over the past week, the Dunphy house had started feeling strangely familiar to him. Loud. Chaotic. Warm in a way his expensive penthouse never managed to be.
It unsettled him more than he wanted to admit.
By early afternoon, Gael was trapped in a tedious lunch eting with two venture capitalists in Santa Monica.
"…your demographic influence is incredible," one man said enthusiastically. "You could beco the public face of young entrepreneurship."
Gael stirred his coffee once.
"That sounds horrifying."
The investors laughed politely, assuming he was joking.
He wasn't.
An hour later, he finally escaped the restaurant and stepped outside into the California sunlight, loosening the collar of his black shirt.
His phone buzzed.
Haley.
[ergency]
Gael imdiately called her.
"What happened?"
"You answered fast."
"You said ergency."
"I locked myself out."
Gael closed his eyes briefly.
"That's the ergency?"
"I'm suffering outside in suburban heat."
"It's seventy-nine degrees."(26ºC)
"You're being unsupportive."
Despite himself, he smiled.
"Where are you?"
Twenty minutes later, Gael pulled into the Dunphy driveway.
Haley sat on the front porch wearing sunglasses and scrolling through her phone dramatically.
"You look holess," Gael said while getting out of the car.
"I've been abandoned by society."
"You forgot your keys."
"My pain remains valid."
Gael shook his head, amused.
"You know," Haley added while standing up, "Dad hid the spare key sowhere stupid."
"That narrows it down trendously."
"He thinks fake rocks are genius."
"That explains a lot about him."
Haley grinned as Gael walked toward the flower beds near the porch. After a few seconds of searching, he picked up an obviously artificial stone and revealed the spare key underneath.
"…Your father would survive exactly three minutes during a burglary."
"I told him that."
Gael unlocked the front door and held it open for her.
The house was quiet inside.
No television.
No Luke yelling from upstairs.
No Phil comntary echoing through the hallway.
Sunlight spilled across the hardwood floors while the ceiling fan humd softly overhead.
Haley slipped off her sandals near the couch.
"You want sothing to drink?" she asked.
"That depends."
"On what?"
"How much trust I'm supposed to place in soone who can't enter her own house."
She narrowed her eyes.
"You're surprisingly judgntal for a teen tech millionaire."
"You brought into this crisis."
"And you answered imdiately."
Fair point.
Gael followed her into the kitchen while Haley opened the refrigerator.
"So where is everyone?" he asked.
"Dad's showing houses. Luke's at a friend's place. Alex is at so academic competition."
"That's Alex."
"You have no idea."
Gael leaned lightly against the counter.
"And your mom?"
Haley grabbed two bottles of water before answering.
"She went to help organize the school fundraiser because apparently nobody else there understands basic human competence."
That sounded exactly like sothing Claire would say.
Gael accepted the water bottle from her with a quiet nod.
The atmosphere inside the empty house felt different today.
Not tense.
Just… close.
Without the rest of the family around, every small interaction beca easier to notice.
The way Haley naturally moved into his space while talking.
The way she looked at him directly when he answered, instead of glancing away.
The casual comfort was already forming between them.
"You're doing the thinking thing again," Haley said.
"I'm deciding if this rescue mission justified canceling etings."
"You're lucky."
"That's one word for it."
Haley laughed softly before hopping onto one of the kitchen stools.
For a second, she simply watched him.
Not teasing this ti.
Studying him.
"You know what's weird?" she asked.
"Probably several things."
"You never really talk about yourself."
Gael unscrewed the cap of his water bottle slowly.
"There's not much to say."
"You built a company in high school."
"That part's public."
"Okay then." Haley rested her chin against her hand. "What's not public?"
The question lingered between them quietly.
Gael looked down briefly before answering.
"I got used to people liking what I could do more than who I was."
Haley's expression softened slightly.
"That's sad."
"It's efficient."
"No." She shook her head lightly. "That answer right there? That's the sad part."
Gael looked at her carefully.
Most people heard the money and stopped asking questions.
Haley kept looking deeper.
That made her dangerous in an entirely different way.
"You say things sotis," she murmured, "that make you sound sadder than everybody else."
If only you knew.
Gael smiled faintly.
"I've had a rough first few years."
The kitchen grew quieter afterward.
Not awkward.
Just closer than before.
Haley slid off the stool and stepped toward him slowly.
Gael stayed where he was.
"I think you spend so much ti pretending to be calm that nobody notices when you're lonely."
His chest tightened unexpectedly.
Not dramatic.
Not manipulative.
Just honest.
Haley's fingers lightly caught the front of his shirt near the collar.
Small contact.
Warm.
Intentional.
Gael looked down briefly at her hand before eting her eyes again.
"You do this thing," she murmured.
"What thing?"
"You always look like you're waiting for sothing to go wrong."
For a mont, neither moved.
The distance between them slowly disappeared until Gael could feel the warmth of her breath.
Then the front door suddenly opened.
"Haley, I forgot my—"
Claire stopped mid-sentence.
Haley imdiately stepped back.
Gael straightened slightly.
For one brief second, the silence felt unusually sharp.
Claire's eyes moved between them carefully:
Haley standing close,
Gael was near the counter,
the shift in posture after being interrupted.
Not suspicious.
Aware.
"I forgot my laptop," Claire said after a mont.
Her tone stayed calm, though her gaze lingered slightly longer than necessary.
"We were just talking," Haley said quickly.
Claire looked at her daughter first.
Then at Gael.
"I can see that."
Gael noticed the faint shift in her expression then.
Not disapproval.
More like realization.
As if she was beginning to understand that whatever existed between Haley and Gael was becoming serious faster than she expected.
Claire walked toward the dining table, grabbing her laptop bag before pausing briefly.
"You two planning to stay here?"
Haley shrugged casually.
"Maybe."
Claire nodded once.
"Well, if Luke cos back early, don't let him choose what to watch again. Last ti he made sit through Sharknado."
"That's cinema," Gael said automatically.
Claire looked at him for a second.
Then, unexpectedly, she laughed.
A quick real laugh that softened her entire face for half a mont before she shook her head.
"Phil said you were sarcastic."
"Your husband seems observant."
"He thinks you know karate."
"That rumor is spreading surprisingly fast."
Another small smile tugged briefly at Claire's mouth before she headed back toward the door.
But just before leaving, she glanced back once.
And for reasons Gael couldn't fully explain, that brief look stayed in his mind long after the front door closed behind her.
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