The internship application beca the center of the house for the next three days.
Sohow, everyone kept orbiting it anyway.
Claire started forwarding Haley branding articles.
Phil tried giving networking advice entirely based on motivational podcasts.
Luke suggested adding "vibes expert" to her resu.
Alex was the most surprising.
She actually helped.
Not in an emotional-support way.
In a terrifyingly competent way.
Editing portfolio layouts.
Fixing wording.
Reorganizing presentation order with ruthless precision.
"You use too many exclamation points," she inford Haley Tuesday evening.
"That's because I'm expressive."
"That's because you type like a Labradoodle."
Gael nearly choked on coffee while Haley looked deeply betrayed.
Still—
Haley listened.
Because underneath the sarcasm, she knew Alex respected the opportunity now.
And that mattered.
Later that night, after everyone drifted back to their respective houses, Gael ended up alone on the rooftop terrace he'd finally finished furnishing.
One of the few genuinely private places left now that the gate existed.
Soft city lights stretched across the neighborhood while cool air moved through the quiet night.
For a while he just sat there answering emails:
investnt updates,
eting confirmations,
property managent issues.
The parts of his life that existed outside the Dunphys.
Then footsteps sounded behind him.
Not Haley.
Too asured.
Alex stepped onto the terrace carrying two coffees.
"You built an existentialist balcony."
"That sounds expensive."
"It looks expensive."
She handed him one before sitting beside him on the outdoor couch.
For a minute neither spoke.
The rooftop felt different from the rest of the house:
quieter,
more adult,
removed from family noise.
Alex looked out across the neighborhood lights.
"You know Haley's going to get the internship, right?"
"You confident?"
"She gets obsessive when she actually cares about sothing."
Gael glanced sideways.
"You sound proud."
Alex took a sip of coffee before answering.
"I am proud." Alex said, without any hesitation.
"She spent years pretending not to care because school always ca easier to ," Alex continued quietly. "So eventually everyone just accepted that I was the 'smart one.'"
The phrase carried old frustration beneath it.
Not resentnt exactly.
More like awareness of how roles calcified inside families.
"But she notices things people miss," Alex said. "Social patterns. Presentation. Reactions." She shrugged lightly. "That's intelligence too."
Gael watched her carefully.
Because this conversation wasn't really about Haley anymore.
Not entirely.
"You wanted people to notice your strengths too," he said.
Alex laughed softly once.
"That's the problem with being 'the smart one.' People notice your strengths constantly." She looked down at the coffee cup between her hands. "They just stop noticing you."
That one landed hard.
Especially because she said it so casually.
Like she'd lived with the feeling long enough for it to beco normal.
The city lights reflected softly in the distance while the silence settled around them again.
Then Alex leaned back into the couch.
"You know what scares most about leaving?"
Alex laughed despite herself before looking back out toward the skyline.
"I think I'm scared nobody will really know there."
The sentence changed the atmosphere imdiately.
No jokes underneath it.
Just fear.
Gael stayed quiet for a second before answering carefully.
"You're good at making people admire you."
Alex glanced toward him.
"But?"
"You're worse at letting people know you."
That pulled a longer silence from her afterward.
Not defensive.
Thinking.
Then she smiled faintly to herself.
"That was annoyingly insightful for soone who owns crypto."
"That sounds judgntal."
"That sounds deserved."
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