They made their way through the crowd to a row of linked racing games. Harlow climbed into one immediately, gripping the wheel with both hands.

"These aren’t real cars," Sabrina pointed out as she settled into the seat next to Harlow.

"Obviously," Harlow replied, adjusting her position. "But it’s like practice! For when I finally convince Mother to let me get my license."

"You’re seventeen and you don’t have your license?" Isaiah asked. He slid into the seat on Harlow’s other side.

"Mother says chauffeurs exist for a reason." Harlow’s voice took on a perfect imitation of Camille’s crisp tone before dropping back to normal. "She thinks I’ll get distracted and crash into something expensive."

"Will you?"

"Probably! But that’s part of the learning experience."

Cassidy and Vivienne took the remaining two seats. They all swiped their cards to start the game.

"First place gets to pick the next game," Cassidy declared, cracking her knuckles. "Last place buys pizza."

"I don’t know how to play," Vivienne protested.

"Should’ve thought of that before you challenged me, sucker."

"I didn’t challenge—"

The race started. Chaos erupted immediately.

Harlow crashed into a wall within the first five seconds. She overcorrected and crashed into the opposite wall. "Why is steering so hard?!"

Vivienne moved so slowly she might as well have been parked. Her car crept forward at what could generously be called a crawl. "I’m being careful."

"You’re being a grandma," Cassidy called out. She drove like a maniac, sideswiping every car in sight. Her laughter rang out each time she sent another vehicle spinning.

Sabrina took a methodical approach. She never exceeded the speed limit, took every turn at the proper angle, and refused to use the turbo boost because "it seems unsafe."

And Isaiah left them all in the dust.

His car moved like he’d memorized the track in the first three seconds. Every turn was clean. Every boost timed perfectly. He made it look effortless.

"You cheated!" Cassidy accused when the race ended. The screen showed Isaiah in first place by a margin that was almost embarrassing.

"How exactly does one cheat at a racing game?" he asked. A real smile played at his lips for the first time that night.

"I don’t know, but you did it. Nobody’s that good."

"He won fair and square," Sabrina said. "I observed his technique. It was superior."

"Thank you, Sabrina."

"You’re welcome." She paused, then added, "Vivienne came in last, by the way."

Vivienne sighed. She climbed out of her seat with as much dignity as someone who’d just lost a racing game could muster. "Fine. I’ll buy the pizza. What does everyone want?"

"Everything," Cassidy decided. "Every topping they have."

"That’s disgusting."

"That’s democracy."

"We’re not a democracy, we’re a sisterhood."

"Same thing."

"It’s emphatically not the same thing."

Harlow grabbed Isaiah’s arm. "What game are we playing next? You won, you pick!"

Isaiah looked around. The arcade stretched out before them in a maze of flashing lights and electronic sounds. "How about... skee ball? Since Cassidy and Vivienne have a score to settle."

"Yes!" Cassidy pumped her fist. "Prepare to be demolished, Vivi."

"Call me Vivi one more time and I’ll make you fly commercial to Milan next month."

"You wouldn’t dare."

"Try me."

They made their way to the skee ball lanes, where Isaiah gave a quick demonstration before stepping back to let the sisters try. Cassidy went first, rolling the balls with wild abandon, scoring poorly but having an excellent time. Vivienne took a more strategic approach, studying the angles before each roll, her tongue caught between her teeth in concentration. Harlow cheered for every point scored, regardless of who made it. Sabrina stood back, observing the techniques before taking her turn with unexpected precision.

"You’re secretly good at this," Isaiah accused her.

Sabrina shrugged. "I understand physics."

By the time they’d exhausted skee ball, Isaiah had visibly relaxed. The tension around his eyes had eased, and he was laughing.

They moved from game to game, accumulating tickets and memories. Harlow dominated at whack-a-mole, her reflexes surprisingly quick. Cassidy set a new high score on a zombie shooter game. Vivienne, to everyone’s shock, turned out to be a basketball prodigy. Sabrina systematically won at every game that required strategy rather than reflexes.

And Isaiah... Isaiah forgot, for just a little while, about his mother showing up and threatening the life he’d built. He forgot about California and Jack and whatever false promises Diana was making to Iris. He forgot about being the responsible one, the guardian, the provider.

For a few hours, he was just a teenager hanging out with friends.

After two hours of games, they collapsed into a booth with their promised pizza. Half supreme for Cassidy, who had insisted she needed meat after all that physical activity. Half margherita for Vivienne, who had very strong opinions about proper pizza construction. A side of mozzarella sticks for Harlow, who had been eyeing them since they walked past the counter. And a salad for Sabrina, because of course she ordered a salad at an arcade.

"I can’t believe you won three jackpots," Harlow said to Isaiah around a mouthful of cheese, her eyes still wide with wonder. "That’s like, statistically impossible or something."

"Not impossible," Isaiah corrected, reaching for a slice. "Just improbable. The games are designed to pay out occasionally to keep people playing. If you understand the patterns and timing mechanisms—"

"Nope," Cassidy interrupted, holding up a hand like a traffic cop. "Absolutely not. No math at the fun place. It’s against the rules."

Isaiah paused mid-explanation. "Since when?"

"Since I just made it up right now," Cassidy declared. "This is a math-free zone. Numbers are banned. We’re having mindless fun like normal people."

Isaiah shook his head, but he was smiling. The kind of genuine smile that reached his eyes and made the dark circles underneath them seem less pronounced. "Fine. No math. I’ll keep my observations about optimal game theory to myself."

"See? Was that so hard?" Cassidy grinned at him victoriously.

"Much better." Cassidy turned her attention to the slice of pizza in her hand, which was drooping under the weight of its toppings. "This is amazing. Mother would have an aneurysm if she saw us eating this."

"Mother would have an aneurysm if she saw any of this," Vivienne pointed out, gesturing around the arcade with a breadstick. "Four Valentine heiresses slumming it at a suburban game center with a boy she explicitly forbade us from seeing socially."

"That makes it even better," Harlow decided. "Breaking rules is fun!"

"That’s a dangerous philosophy," Sabrina murmured.

"But not incorrect," Cassidy countered.

They ate in comfortable silence for a few minutes, watching the crowds around them. No one had recognized them yet, which was something of a miracle. Perhaps people simply weren’t expecting to see Valentine quadruplets in a Philadelphia arcade on a Friday night.

"Thank you," Isaiah said suddenly, his voice quiet but sincere. "For this. I needed it more than I realized."

"We know," Harlow said simply.

"How did you know?"

The sisters exchanged glances again.

"Because we know you," Sabrina said. "Perhaps better than you think we do."

"We’ve been watching you," Cassidy added. "You never stop. You never rest. You’re always handling everything for everyone else."

"Sometimes the person who takes care of everyone needs someone to take care of them," Vivienne concluded. "Even if they’d never ask for it themselves."

Isaiah looked between them, something vulnerable and surprised in his expression.

"I don’t know what to say."

"You don’t have to say anything," Harlow assured him. "Just eat your pizza before it gets cold."

He did, a small smile playing at his lips.

They finished their meal and redeemed their tickets for prizes. Harlow selected a giant stuffed unicorn. Cassidy chose a light-up sword. Vivienne opted for a practical water bottle. Sabrina picked a book of brain teasers. And Isaiah... Isaiah chose four identical teddy bears wearing Valentine-red bowties.

"One for each of you," he explained, handing them out. "To remember tonight."

Harlow clutched hers immediately to her chest. Cassidy pretended to sword-fight with hers before tucking it under her arm. Vivienne examined hers with a small, soft smile. Sabrina ran a finger over her bear’s ear, her expression unreadable.

"We should get you home," Vivienne said, checking her watch. "It’s almost ten-thirty."

Isaiah nodded, the reminder of reality dimming his smile slightly.

As they walked back to the car, Harlow linked her arm through Isaiah’s. "Everything will be okay, you know. With your mom and Iris. You’ll figure it out."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because you always do." She squeezed his arm. "And this time, you have backup."

"Backup?"

"Us, dummy." Cassidy poked him in the ribs. "We’ve got your back."

"Whether you want us to or not," Sabrina added quietly.

Vivienne unlocked the car with a beep. "The Valentines protect their own."

Isaiah stopped walking, looking between them with an expression they couldn’t quite read. "I work for you. I’m not ’yours’ in that sense."

The sisters exchanged one more glance, a silent agreement passing between them.

"That," Vivienne said carefully, opening her car door, "is precisely what we wanted to talk to you about tonight."