There were cracks in the ceiling. Noah had already counted them three times already. They stretched like thin veins across the pale surface, splitting, branching, disappearing into shadows where the weak bulb in the corner couldn’t reach. He looked at them with unfocused eyes, his body still, as if lying there long enough might make the weight in his chest ease. It didn’t.
The room was dim, washed in the faint blue of evening slipping through the curtains. It had to be around seven… maybe eight. Time blurred these days, just another thing he couldn’t seem to hold onto. The door creaked open. Noah didn’t look, he already knew who it was.
Justin stepped in like he owned the place, which technically, he did, and kicked the door shut behind him. There was a soft clink of glass, then the faint hiss of a bottle cap being twisted open.
“Thought you’d still be brooding,” Justin said casually as he pressed a cold bottle against Noah’s arms.
Noah took it without a word, his fingers curling around the neck. The condensation was already slick against his skin. He brought it to his lips and took a long drink, the bitterness setting him down in a way nothing else had been all day. The mattress dipped as Justin sat beside him and for a while, neither of them spoke. Then Noah felt it, Justin’s fingers, light and slow, tracing the raised lines along his forearm. Old scars. Some faded. Some not.
Justin’s voice softened. “Now,” he murmured, “are you going to tell me what the problem is?”
Noah exhaled through his nose, his grip tightening slightly around the bottle. “It’s my brother.”
That was all it took for Justin to still. When Noah finally turned his head, the look on Justin’s face said everything, recognition, understanding… and something heavier beneath it. Eli.
Justin took a slow sip of his beer before speaking again. “Is it about the medical bills?”
A hollow sound escaped Noah, something like a laugh, but not quite. “Well, that tops the list.”
He dragged a hand over his face, then turned fully, propping himself up on his elbow. The hesitation was there again, flickering behind his eyes. Like he was debating how much to say and how much he could afford to say.
“They want me to prepare for his discharge.”
Justin’s reaction was immediate, even if he tried to hide it. His posture stiffened, his jaw tightening before he looked away. Silence stretched between them, heavy and complicated.
“I wish there was some way I could help you, Noah,” Justin said finally, quieter now.
Noah just nodded. What was there to say to that? He lifted the bottle again, letting the burn settle in his throat, hoping it might dull the sharp edges of everything else, but it didn’t. Nothing did. But then, like a switch flipping, Justin straightened.
“Wait.” Noah barely reacted as Justin reached for the dresser, grabbing his phone and scrolling quickly, his thumb moving with purpose. “I did come across something,” he said. “A job.”
That got a reaction. Noah sighed and shook his head as he let himself fall back against the mattress again. “No, please, Justin,” he muttered, a tired smile pulling at his lips. “No menial job is going to give me one hundred thousand dollars in a short amount of time.”
“No,” Justin said, more firmly this time. “This is different.”
That made Noah pause. He turned his head slightly as Justin leaned over, holding the phone out to him and after a beat, Noah took it. His eyes scanned the screen, and slowly… his expression shifted. His brows drew together first, lifted, then settled into something sharper. More alert.
“Justin…” His voice dropped. “Two hundred and fifty thousand to retrieve an item?” He glanced up, suspicion written plainly across his face. “This sounds sketchy.”
Justin didn’t flinch. “Sketchy or not,” he said evenly, “that money takes care of your brother’s bills. And more.”
Noah looked back at the screen. The number didn’t change. Two hunderd and fifty thousand dollars. A quarter of a million for one job. His stomach tightened.
Justin leaned closer, his voice lowering, more deliberate now. “You have the skills, Noah.” he said and that made Noah’s jaw clench. “You’ve done something like this before.”
Noah sat up abruptly, handing the phone back like it had burned him. “What I’ve done before,” he said, sharper now, “was small. Quick jobs. Nothing that mattered. Nothing that would come back to bite me.”
He ran a hand through his hair, frustration bleeding through. “But this?” He let out a dry laugh. “This kind of money? For something this vague? That’s not normal, Justin. That’s trouble.”
Justin watched him carefully. “You’re overthinking it.”
“No,” Noah snapped. “I’m thinking just enough.”
The room fell quiet again with tension building between them. Then Justin sighed and shrugged as he pushed himself to his feet.
“I think you should consider it.” Noah didn’t respond. “You need the money now more than ever,” Justin continued, glancing back at him. “And this is a huge sum to pass up.” He hesitated, then added, “Besides… it’s not your first rodeo. You know how to do this without it coming back to you.”
That struck more than anything else and before Noah could respond, Justin was already moving toward the door.
“Just think about it,” he said, pulling it open. “That’s all I’m saying.” And then he was gone. The door clicked shut behind him and silence returned.
Noah sat there for a long time, unmoving, then slowly, he lay back down. The ceiling cracks were still there, still branching, still endless. But now… his focus wasn’t on them.
His gaze shifted down to the phone Justin had left behind on the bed. The screen had gone dark, but Noah could still see it. The number. The offer. The way out. Or the way down.
His chest tightened. He already knew the answer even if he didn’t want to admit it, even if every instinct told him to walk away. His hand moved before he could stop it and his fingers closing around the phone.
Because Eli needed the money. And that was the only thing that mattered, even if it cost him everything.
