Corvin wouldn’t look at her. Livia was okay with that. He was acting like a relatable human for once. He sighed as he leaned over her car battery.

“Liv, it isn’t the battery. It’s fine.”

“So…” Livia drawled.

“It’s something else, which means…”

“Lots of money,” she said.

“That too,” he laughed. “What do you want to do here?”

He finally looked at her.

Livia rubbed her forehead.

Corvin wiped his hands off on his jeans. “I don’t think the car is worth fixing, Liv. If it’s an engine...the car is over twenty years old. You’re throwing money away.”

Tears pricked Livia’s eyes.

“I’m sorry,” Corvin said. “But the best advice I have for you is to trade it in and buy a new car.”

There were very few things that Livia was impractical about, unfortunately, her car was one of them. She knew Corvin was right, but her emotions did not agree. Her heart hurt, her stomach twisted, her mouth went dry as ash. She had to reach over and place her hand on the car to stay standing. It was her car. Corvin had no concept of how hard she’d had to work to earn the money to buy it. The amount of work she had to do to keep it. Buying this car had been a huge turning point in her life. She’d proved to herself that her hard work could affect her situation. It gave her independence, pride, opportunity, security, and a space that belonged only to her. Livia didn’t want to know what kind of person she was without this car.

Corvin realized she was struggling. He stepped close, placed a hand along her arm. “Hey, hey, it’s a bad time of night to make decisions. Why don’t you let me drive you home? We can figure it out tomorrow or Monday morning.”

Livia couldn't protest. She let Corvin lead her to his car, open the door, help her inside. Things she normally wouldn’t allow. Terrance hopped in the back, while Corvin went around.

“Liv, you alright?” Terrance asked.

Livia made some kind of vague noise.

Corvin slid into the car. “Alright, I’m going to need your address.”

Livia didn’t move.

“Liv,” Corvin insisted.

She felt like she was moving through molasses as she reached for her phone. She looked at the screen, numbly. Time passed, empty, silent, heavy.

Corvin’s fingers brushed her face. “Livia, look at me.”

She did.

“It’s going to be okay,” he whispered. “I’ll call Justin and Hyrum tonight after I drop you off. We’ll figure something out together, alright? We’ll make this a team project.”

Tears welled in Livia's eyes. “It’s my car.”

He nodded. “You’re attached to it.”

“My car,” with a hint of a wail in her tone.

“It means a lot to you,” Corvin said, running his thumb over a tear that ran down her cheek.

Livia broke. She tilted her head forward and sobbed.

Corvin rested his hand on the top of her head. “Liv, hun, it will be alright.”

She reached out for him then drew herself back. “Wait, no.”

“Hey, no big deal,” he said. “It’s alright.”

He reached out and grabbed her hand and placed it on his shoulder. “I’m okay with this if you are…”

She nodded and clutched at his shoulder. Corvin rested his hand over hers on his shoulder. Then he wrapped his other hand around the back of her head to guide her forehead to his other shoulder.

Livia was so shocked by his tenderness that her sobs stopped. His thumb brushed feather-light across the tops of her knuckles. His hand moved in her hair, caressing in a comforting motion. There was something so overwhelming about this physical kindness. There was a relief that she could be treated such and awe that Corvin would think her deserving. Then there was the grief that she’d experienced so little of something so healing. Livia's sobs returned on a tidal wave of bittersweet emotions. She’d wondered if she’d fare better pulling away, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

She wanted to be close to this version of Corvin. She’d recognized from the first the depth of his compassion, the deep tenderness of his spirit. This was the Corvin she recognized. The one she trusted. He still existed.

She didn’t know how much time had passed until her sobs ran out. She laid her cheek on Corvin’s Lemon and Lavender scented shoulder and closed her swollen eyes.

“I don’t usually do this to people,” she whispered.

“Cry on them?” Corvin asked.

“Hmm,” she agreed.

“You should try it more often,” he teased.

Livia shook her head and pulled back. “I should go home.”

“Tell me your address.” Corvin released her slowly as if she might break.

Livia almost mocked him. Did he think a hug was going to break her? That was laughable. Resolve filled Livia. She wasn’t going to let this car thing get the best of her. She’d figure out how to manage. She always had. She always would.

###

The next morning before Livia even got out of bed Justin texted her. She squinted at the phone and read what he wrote.

Justin: Corvin called late last night. Let me know what you need and we’ll work things out.

Livia wondered if Corvin had called Hyrum too. If he had she was surprised that Justin had beat Hyrum to contacting her. As if thinking of her brother summoned him, the phone lit up with his name. She answered the call.

“Hyrum,” Livia said, bracing herself.

“You need to get rid of that car,” he said. “Corvin called me last night and I know the car is special to you, Livia. But you’ve already spent a thousand dollars on it this year alone and do you know how much an engine costs to replace?”

“Hyrum.”

“I have extra cars sitting in my garage! Sitting there, Livia. It’s wasteful. I feel sick inside when I think about you out there with that piece of a crap car when I have more than I need. It’s...immoral. Stop being stubborn and let me send you out a decent car.”

“Fine,” Livia said.

“Like it’s not...wait? What?” Hyrum stopped his furious tirade.

“Send me the car,” Livia said.

“Oh. Okay. Gaius is gone again. So, I have to stay around here but maybe someone is coming out that way and can drive it to you. I will call you back this afternoon.”

Livia texted Justin. Everything is fine. I am going back to sleep.

Livia switched off her phone, turned over in her bed, and enjoyed sleeping in on her Sunday morning. When she turned on her phone late afternoon she had messages from Corvin, Hyrum, and Justin that said she should call them. She would call Hyrum and ignore Corvin and Justin.

“Liv,” Hyrum said. “Great news! The Halls are going to use fall break to give Tan a tour of Cornelia Africana College. She’s thinking about applying there next year. They want to spend a weekend here with family and then they’ll drive one of my cars out there instead of having to rent one.”

“Oh, that’s a really good solution,” Livia was a little surprised it wasn’t harder. “So, I’ll have to go for three weeks without a car.”

“Yeah,” Hyrum said. “That alright?”

“Yes. I’ll figure it out,” Livia said. “And there are people around here. Corvin. My roommate.”

“Okay, good. We’re good.”

“What do I do with my old car?” Livia asked.

“You decide,” Hyrum said. “I don’t care. Sell it. Give it away. Whatever.”

Livia said goodbye to Hyrum. It was time to figure out how she was going to get her Sunday groceries. Whitney always went home on Saturday night and came back Sunday evening. So asking her was out and Livia didn’t want to rely on Corvin too much. Only if she had to. So she looked up bus schedules. There was a stop about a half-mile from her dorm. It stopped right in front of a grocery store. If she hurried through the shower, she could make the three o’clock bus. Then return on the last bus at six o’clock that evening.

Livia got to the bus stop five minutes early. She got on and found an empty seat. She didn’t know the area very well yet and so paid careful attention to their route as they drove. They pulled onto a freeway that she’d never been on before. After about ten minutes they exited off and wound their way through a separate part of town she hadn’t known about.

The houses were older, run-down in this area. The streets were dirtier and shabby-looking. Livia saw signs that it was an area that struggled with poverty and a little bit of trepidation filled her. Maybe Livia should have asked Whitney if this was a safe part of town before she did this. Livia had grown up in such neighborhoods. She knew that most people minded their own business but she’d always had her family nearby if she needed help.

Livia knew she could win a fight, but she feared hurting someone or having her powers discovered. If she didn't keep a low profile, she risked getting punished by the Senate.

The area around the grocery store looked much better. The mix of cars in the parking lot showed that affluent and poor mingled together in the area. Livia went in and found the store incredibly busy. The lines at the registers spilled over into the aisles. The grocery store was unfamiliar. She had to backtrack through the aisles to find the things she needed. It took much longer than she predicted to find the things she needed. She had twenty minutes to get back to the bus on time when she got in line. After a solid five minutes of not budging, Livia switched to another line.

Thankfully it moved faster. She looked at her watch, as the cashier rang up the woman in front of her. She was pawing through an envelope for coupons. Livia’s heart started to beat harder. She did not like cutting things this close. The woman’s credit card was declined. She laughed and opened her wallet. She pawed through it and scrounged up the cash, bill by bill to pay her total.

“Please, hurry,” Livia told the cashier when she started her groceries. “I need to catch the bus in seven minutes.”

The cashier gave her a vacant look and didn’t hurry one bit. Livia thought about running and leaving the food on the belt for the cashier to clean up. But she didn’t want to go through this ordeal all over again.

Livia feared if she urged the cashier to hurry again she would go slower. She kept her silence, though, she was giving the woman quite a tirade in her head. Livia paid, gathered her bags, and sprinted out the door to see the bus taking off--two minutes early. She’d missed it.

Livia cursed. Then she panicked. What was she going to do? She could try and remember the route they took here to get home. Except, she didn’t think walking with grocery bags along the side of the freeway in the dark was a good idea. She could hear Hyrum’s voice in her head saying, “People get killed that way, Livia.” That was only the start of the trouble she could get into.

Oh, how she wished she could call Hyrum to pick her up right now. She knew he’d drop whatever he was doing in an instant to come to pick her up. She thought of Corvin. She might be able to call Corvin.

She hated it. But she pulled out her phone and she called him. He didn’t answer. Livia's lungs pinched and her heart raced. Wha--

Her phone rang. Corvin was calling back.

She answered. He spoke before she could say anything.

“Hey Liv, sorry I missed your call the first time around. What’s up?”

Sudden anxiety struck her, making it hard to speak. She was sure once she explained Corvin would rail at her and tell her how stupid she was. She swallowed hard. “I’m stuck,” she whispered.

“You’re what?” Corvin asked.

Livia was terrified to explain what she’d done. He would call her stupid and annoying and take back his offers to be her friend. Livia took a deep breath and tried to talk herself out of her fear. Corvin wasn’t her mother. He was TARP. Justin had trained all his officers to never behave like that.

“I’m stuck,” Livia managed.

“Where?”

“At a grocery store.”

“How’d you get there?” he asked.

“I took a b-bus, but I miss-missed the last one. It’s not safe to walk--”

Corvin interrupted. “Okay, I’m on my way. Which grocery store? What address?”

Livia managed to explain where she was to him.

“Liv, what are you doing way over there?” Corvin asked.

Livia’s entire body flushed with heat. Here it came. The tirade. She closed her eyes and didn’t answer, waiting to ride it out.

“Okay, I’m coming. Don’t move. Stay there. Understand?” Corvin waited for her to answer.

“Yes,” she answered.