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"Yeah."

"You found out five minutes ago."

"Which means we're already behind."

Laurel laughs again until she has to wipe at the corners of her eyes.

The sound lingers around the table for another few seconds. Briggs looks ridiculously pleased with himself. Ashby is already pretending he isn't smiling.

Laurel looks at the three of us.

The smile stays on her face.

It just doesn't quite reach her eyes anymore.

"Guys..." she begins, then stops.

None of us says a word. We watch her work through whatever she's trying to say, and the excitement that's been building around the table starts to unravel.

Every future I know we've all spent the last few minutes stumbling toward suddenly feels fragile.

Laurel drops her eyes to the table. "You know I still haven't decided what happens next."

Ashby's pen stops above the page. Briggs' smile disappears, and I feel my own chest tighten as the truth hits all over again.

She still has a life waiting for her.

She could still leave.

Ashby looks down at the notebook in front of him before closing it with a sigh. He rubs the back of his neck and offers Laurel an apologetic smile. "Sorry," he says. "I got carried away."

Laurel's expression softens. "It's okay." She glances around the table before her smile slips away altogether. "I just need you to remember that nothing is decided yet."

Nobody argues.

Briggs studies the grain of the table. Ashby's thumb traces the edge of his notebook, while I keep looking at Laurel because I can't make myself look anywhere else.

She takes another breath before continuing. "Everything I've built is still there. My career didn't disappear because I got on a plane. My clients are expecting me back. I've still got a home there." Her fingers tighten together in her lap before she looks up at us again. "Every time I think about a life here, part of me wants to really picture it too..." She swallows. "The other part won’t let me forget I still have another life waiting for me."

Ashby's fingers tighten around his pen. "I don't want you to give all of that up because of us," he says.

Neither me nor Briggs argue with that.

Laurel's smile carries more sadness than amusement this time. "That's exactly the problem." She blows out a breath and shakes her head. "If I stay here, I walk away from the life I worked so hard to build." Her eyes fill as they settle on the three of us. "If I leave..." Her words catch before she forces them out. "I lose all of you."

The room falls silent again.

I clear my throat, even though I'm not convinced my mouth remembers how words work.

"I've spent weeks trying not to think about you getting back on that plane," I admit. Her eyes meet mine. "Because every time I do..." I laugh without any humour behind it and scrub a hand over my face. "I can't picture anything after that."

She lowers her eyes as the silence stretches between us, staring at the coffee. She's holding something back.

Ice coils in my gut.

I've seen the look before. Every impossible decision Laurel makes begins the same way. She gathers herself piece by piece until there's nothing left to do except tell the truth.

When she speaks, her voice is barely above a whisper.