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Was it though? Nico frowned at the other demon. It might be enough for Miri, but it wasn’t enough for him. And from the dark look on Ace and Duke’s face, it wasn’t enough for them either.

Kaz hadn’t just fucked up his own relationship with Miri, his bullshit had very nearly fucked up theirs too. And that was one thing Nico would not stand for. If anyone was going to moronically destroy his relationship with Miri, he would prefer it be him.

“Therapy,” Duke rumbled.

“What?”

“That’s what you need to do to make this better. Go to therapy.”

Kaz blinked at him. “Um…”

“That’s a non-negotiable for me to be okay with you being a part of this relationship,” Duke said, his stony face unyielding. “You need closure with this Dana shit or else you’re going to end up spiraling and screwing this up again at some point. And Miri might not be so forgiving next time.”

“And neither will we,” Nico added. He’d already cleaned up his own mess with Miri, he wasn’t about to follow around Kaz with a bucket and mop just because he had some insecurities he needed beaten out of him.

Miri looked between the three frowning demons and nodded. Nico caught her eye. He doubted there was a psychic bone in that curvy human body, but hopefully she was reading the gravity of this in his gaze. She might not need more from Kaz, but they did.

“I change my answer,” she said slowly. “Therapy.”

“Do we vote?” Ace asked. “It feels weird to vote.”

Nico raised his hand. Miri snorted as the other demons rolled their eyes. He slowly lowered his hand. Apparently, they were not going to vote. Noted.

Kaz rolled his eyes. “No, we are not voting on my mental health.”

He gritted his fangs and tapped his blunted claws on the coffee table. Nico’s eyes narrowed as Kaz continued to mull it over in his head. He’d better think faster, because there was only one answer they were going to accept.

“Okay.” Kaz nodded his head, his shoulders slumping. “I’ll start looking for a therapist tomorrow.”

The demon quickly stuffed a mouthful of lasagna in his mouth, clearly unwilling to talk about it anymore.

Fair enough. Nico wouldn’t want to in his shoes either.

In fact, he probably would have stubbornly argued a bit more than Kaz had.

Laying on a couch and talking about his absentee parents sounded like a particularly horrific brand of torture.

“Okay, my turn.” Miri laid her fork down.

“You don’t have to?—“

“No, I do. I really do.” The flush had left her soft cheeks, leaving her paler than usual.

The golden freckles on her nose and gray circles under her eyes were the only color in her face.

“I fucked up too. I should have told you what happened with my job. I should have come home and told you as soon as I walked through the door, and I regret that I didn’t. ”

Sighing, Miri absently tugged on a loose curl. “My childhood wasn’t ideal—you’ve met my delightful mother. Growing up, there was a lot of criticism and being made to feel small for the littlest mistakes. I’ve worked really hard to get past that, including going to therapy.”

She shot a pointed look at Kaz.

“I meant what I said when I told you I didn’t want you to blame yourselves for what happened, but it was more than that.

A part of me—a very small part that I do my best not to entertain anymore—was afraid that you were going to be disappointed in me.

So I hid it from you and tried to fix it myself, just like I would do as a kid. ”

Nico was squeezing his fork so hard, he was sure that the handle was going to turn into mangled scrap. Somewhere out there, he hoped with all of his heart that Elaine Brown was getting stuck by lightning.

“I should have trusted you to be the same loving, supportive men that you’ve been since I’ve met you. I’m sorry that I didn’t and it definitely won’t be happening again.”

They turned to look at Ace as she wrapped her apology. He smirked at Kaz.

“Now, that was an A.”

Kaz grumbled under his breath even as Miri beamed. “Pretty sure this is rigged.”

“Be prettier and I’ll consider bumping you a grade.”

Laughing, Miri swiped at her tearing eyes. Damn it, not again.

Nico leaned over before any tears could roll down her cheeks and folded her into a hug. Her soft curves melted against him. He sighed into her hair. Heart clenching, he squeezed her a little tighter. He had missed her so fucking much.

“You okay?” she asked quietly, her big brown eyes looking up at him.

“I’m just really happy I don’t have to kill Kaz,” Nico whispered back. “He looks like a biter.”

Miri pushed him back with a snort. Swiping at her eyes one more time, she addressed them all.

“In the spirit of forgiveness, is there anything else that needs to be shared with the group? This is your moment to get it off your chest, no judgments.”

They all shared a look. Who was going to start? Definitely not him, he was still pulling himself together after that hug.

“I haven’t filed taxes in three years, I have no idea what a 401k is and at this point I’m in too deep to ask, I once worked in a sex toy shop and was the number one seller of sex swings in the state.

They gave me a trophy and I still have it,” Ace admitted sheepishly.

“Also, I’m kind of obsessed with how adorable your feet are and I’m concerned I’m fostering some kind of foot fetish. ”

Miri stared at him. “Not quite what I had in mind, but okay.”

Wow. When Ace unloaded, he went big.

Nico leaned in. “They really gave you a trophy?”

“Hand to Gaia, it’s shaped like a golden dildo.”

What the hell did one even do with something like that? Display it on your mantle? Trot it out as a centerpiece at Thanksgiving?

“I was the one eating all the yogurt and the texture of your duvet makes my skin crawl,” Duke cut in before Nico could ask more questions.

“And I accidentally shrunk one of your sweaters in the wash and had to hunt down a replacement before you noticed. It’s a slightly different shade of gray, but I was hoping you wouldn’t notice. ”

Miri’s eyes narrowed. “Wait, which sweater?—“

“You have really flimsy water glasses and I’ve broken three of them already. Also, I hate the pattern on your kitchen curtains,” Nico quickly interrupted. Duke shot him a grateful look over her head. “If you squint and tilt your head a little to the left, the paisley looks like a bunch of dicks.”

“Oh my god, it totally does!” Ace laughed.

They turned as one to look at Kaz.

“Don’t look at me like that. Besides the fuck up with the phone, I’ve been an angel.”

Miri hook her head, a smile creeping across her bewildered face. That probably wasn’t quite what she had been hoping for when she phrased the question, but she’d certainly gotten an answer.

“Okay, so Kaz goes to therapy, Ace gets to pick my toenail polish from now on but only after someone explains to him what a retirement fund is, the duvet and the curtains will be replaced, and I’ll pick up some plastic water glasses for Nico. Did I miss anything?”

“Can I get a new coffeemaker?” Ace asked hopefully. “I want one that makes espresso too.”

“As long as I don’t have to pay for it, replace away, babe.”

“Excellent.” He rubbed his hands together, a mischievous glint lighting his golden eyes. “Now can we do the makeup sex?”

“I’m down,” Nico said. Did he say that way too quickly?

Miri laughed. “Why is every time I make lasagna, you four want to peel my clothes off?”

She was so cute… and so oblivious. He leaned over and tugged on one of her curls.

“It’s not the lasagna, baby. It’s you.” Nico winked at her blushing cheeks. “And this isn’t a reflection on you, but we’re definitely gonna finish the lasagna first.”