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Seth nodded tightly. “Right. Dumb. Of course. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

Nick flailed. The conversation had spun out of control. “Oh, hey. Wait. I didn’t mean it like that. You’re my favorite person in the whole world next to my dad. You know that, right?You’renot dumb.”

“Just the idea of me being an Extraordinary is.”

Nick felt like he was on ice, and it was cracking beneath his feet. “I don’t know what you’re trying to say.”

“I kissed your cheek.”

Nick felt his face grow warm again. “I… yeah.”

Seth looked away. “You should go.”

Nick blinked. “Wait, what? What did I do? Are you mad at me?”

Seth smiled tightly. “I just want to be by myself. Sick, remember? Can’t have you catching it.”

“We still need to talk about me becoming—”

“Please. Just… go.”

Since Nick was helpless when Seth saidplease,he turned and left. Before he closed the door, he looked over his shoulder. Seth sat on his bed, face in his hands.

He left, shutting the door.

Bob was waiting at the bottom of the stairs. He wore a pair of overalls stained with grease. He looked older than Nick remembered, the lines around his eyes and mouth deeper. His hair hung in white wisps around his face. Nate could hear Martha moving in the kitchen.

“Nicky,” Bob said, his voice a deep rumble. “Everything okay?”

No, it really wasn’t. He shook his head.

“Heard some raised voices.”

Nick winced. “Sorry about that. Just a frank exchange of ideas.”

“You boys okay?”

Nick didn’t know if they were or not. He couldn’t even be sure what they’d argued about. He just knew he was mad at pretty much everyone, mostly for nonsensical reasons. He wasn’t sure if that included Seth. “I’m sorry to tell you that your nephew is a jerk.” Okay, so maybe it did include Seth.

Bob barely reacted. “He’s a teenager. That’s to be expected.”

“But I might be one too.”

“A teenager or a jerk?”

Nick liked Bob a lot. “Both.”

Bob nodded slowly. “Seems like things are changing.”

“Tell me about it,” Nick muttered, pulling on one of the straps to his backpack. “When did Seth get biceps?”

Bob chuckled. “Noticed that, did you? Growing up, I guess.”

“That’s not fair. He gets muscles, and I get a little mustache that makes me look like I should be wearing a trench coat and flashing people.”

“That was… oddly specific.”

Nick sighed. “I tend to do that.”