Page 130 of Fool Me Twice

“We can look at some withdrawal resources,” Fix jumped in. “I’m sure since you haven’t been doing it that long, your symptoms shouldn’t be too severe.”

Hart brought the cigarette to his mouth for the first time in front of his family, taking a long drag, expertly sucking it in and feeling freedom amid the haze of smoke. He let it out and then met his brothers’ eyes.

“I’ve been smoking for ten years.”

The room was silent in the wake of his bombshell, and he nervously took another drag. He felt Cane lay a hand on his back in silent support.

“I knew,” Wren said.

Hart snapped his eyes to him, everyone else doing the same. Wren fiddled with his fingers, avoiding Damir’s gaze especially. “I’ve seen you smoke loads of times when you think no one’s around.”

Hart blinked, then blinked again before a laugh spilled out of him. He rested his elbow on the other arm of the chair and put his face in his hand.

After all this time.

The anticlimax was comical.

“Hey! All my lighters that went missing!” Ash suddenly said. “You made me write lines about taking better care of my belongings!”

Cane chuckled heartily, probably the first time anyone else had heard him laugh. “Now that’s funny.”

“It is not!!”

“It kind of is,” Midas signed.

“Don’t take his side!” Ash complained.

“I’ve been smoking for ten years. Sometimes I drink more than the recommended amount of alcohol. There are days when getting out of bed and finding a motivational quote is hard, though we should all strive to persevere of course, and sometimes my socks don’t match my pocket squares,” Hart suddenly ranted above the noise, getting it all off his chest before taking a heavy drag on his cigarette. “I’ve even sworn…on occasion.”

“That’s…” Fix started with wide eyes.

“Surprisingly normal and tame,” Ash said.

“Especially compared to you,” Morgan pitched in.

“Hey!” Ash complained.

Morgan crossed his arms over his chest resolutely. “Get rid of the flamethrower and get out of being grounded by Nexus. That might change my mind.”

“You’re still our Saint Hart,” Black said over the bickering couple, sending him a beaming smile. “I don’t mind whatever you do.”

“You wouldn’t,” Midas signed. Black blinked innocently back at him with his big blue eyes. “But I agree. Welcome to being human.”

Hart could feel tears threatening at the unflinching acceptance.

“Why didn’t you feel you could tell us?” Fix asked gently. “Did you think we’d care so much?”

Hart grimaced a little, looking down. “We all know how this team came to be. We all know we had to fight and endure so much to finally get to the point where we functioned as a unit. We all had roles to fulfill to make it work, and I guess I…I think I took mine too far. I wanted to be perfect. Someone you could rely on. Someone who would never break under the pressure, or show weakness…”

“Wait,” Wren said softly. “It’s our fault…”

“Wren, no,” Hart said. “Nothing is your fault. My pride and my need to be perfect are not on you. I should have believed in all of you more. Trusted you. Instead I tried to bury human failings and cover them up with motivational posters and neck ties.”

“Not that he doesn’t like the motivational posters and neck ties,” Cane chipped in helpfully. “So expect more of those.”

Hart sent him a wobbly smile. “You too. That warehouse is both depressing and a hazard.”

Cane took his burned-down cigarette from Hart and ditched it. “What’s mine is yours, sweetheart.”

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