And a phone call from the one he knew

While Archie showed the new house guest around, James felt his phone buzz. His mother hand just started to whisper to him.

"So, it didn't end up being her but maybe if you're responsible here you can make an argument for her to stay here?"

"Uh...maybe, one sec, Mom...I don't know this number and Lee always says that could be someone important."

He stepped out back, speaking into the phone. "Hello?"

<James...>, the familiar voice called weakly.

"Aurora...hey."

<Why?>

"What? Why...is this about signing up with the program?"

<You lied to me?>

"What?! No! Not once! Did something happen?"

<Alpha...he said you lied to me about...you. Your heart...>

"No! Why would I-"

<We cannot lie James...not to each other...I know he spoke the truth...>

"But I didn't...m-maybe someone said something to him? He's not lying if he thinks it's true, but he wasn't right!", he felt his chest tighten. Would she believe him? Could she? Why would Archie say that? James knew already that he knew perfectly well James cared about her.

The phone clicked.

He felt his heart turn to glass. He'd hurried outside, before Archie had finished showing the new Nova around. Terri called out when he grabbed his keys. "James! Where are you going?!"

He called back, "To her!"

"You don't even know where she is!", Sally shouted.

"Yes, I do! It was in the welcome packet!", he called back while hopping into his car.

Terri ran after him, speaking quickly to Sally. "I'm going with to try...I don't know but keep those two busy!"

Sally stood in a stunned silence for a moment. Keep them busy? One of them was a wiry new guy and the other looked like he could wrestle dinosaurs. How is she supposed to do that?