**Have another cute oneshot you simps, I'm apologizing now for any canonical inaccuracies**

"Knock knock. Can I come in?" 

Silence from the other side of the door.

     Technically, Emika Chen was still the rookie of the Phoenix Riders, despite having been with them for a few months now. Regardless, she knew she was gonna be here for a while. She might as well spend time with some of the other team members; when she really thought about it, it was definitely preferable to being locked up in the shadows at the orphanage. 

"...Roshan?"

      Another moment of silence. Emika was about to walk away, try another day. Maybe ask Hammie to teach her to play chess or something. 

     The door opened, and Roshan was looking like he'd barely slept two winks. 

     Emika was startled at his appearance. His hair - which was normally immaculately floofed - now looked as if he'd been speeding down the highway on a motorcycle, as it stuck up in every which way. The bags under his eyes were even darker than usual. 

     "Hey-" Emika began, not sure what exactly she had been planning to say in the first place. 

     "I know I look like a wreck, you don't have to make it that obvious," Roshan mumbled, tugging the sleeves of his gray sweatshirt over his hands in an embarrassed gesture. 

     "No! No, I just...are you alright? I mean, we don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, I was just wondering if you wanted to play MarioKart or something-" Emika cut herself off when her gaze wandered over Roshan's shoulder, catching on a small case that rested on his bed. The brown leather bag's contents seemed to have been emptied out; crumpled up pieces of paper, tinier flecks of material that almost looked like flower petals, yellowing open envelopes with wax seals. Sheets of sketch paper with the faint outline of charcoal drawings. 

     Roshan took a small step to his left, blocking Emika's view. He cleared his throat. "I'm kinda, um...busy right now."

     "Busy with whatever you were up all night doing?" Emika blurted. Both of them were taken aback by the sudden boldness. 

     Emika didn't realize just how tense Roshan was until his shoulders finally slumped. "Emi..." he grumbled, running a hand through his tangled hair. 

     "Roshan, are you sure you're o-"

      She was taken off-guard when Roshan slumped against her, hugging her tightly. Emika felt every muscle in her body tense, if only because she couldn't remember being hugged like that since before...

      "It's been a year," Roshan mumbled. "since...since Tremaine left me. Left the Riders."

     Oh. Emika hadn't forgotten the glares she had received from one particular Demon Brigade member upon first meeting him. Nor had she forgotten the night that she had heard of the history between Tremaine Blackbourne and Roshan. And how Tremaine, once a Phoenix Rider, had disappeared one night after getting the Riders into too much trouble for their own good. 

     "Oh," Emika voiced, gently, barely a whisper, forcing her muscles to relax as she pulled Roshan close to her. "I'm sorry."

     "It's been one year to the day, Emi," Roshan went on, his voice breaking. "I counted." Emika felt his shoulders bounce as he let out a chuckle. "Isn't that stupid?"

     "It's not stupid," Emika whispered. "You're okay to feel this way."

     "He never said goodbye..." Roshan said, so softly that Emika could barely hear it. "He never said goodbye." It was painfully easy to imagine how many times that sentence had played on loop in Roshan's head. 

     Roshan slowly backed away from the hug, trudging back to his bed. He sat before the notes and picked up one of the letters. Most of it was charred, blackened in spots, as if Roshan had tried to burn it in a fit a rage and insecurity, before quickly deciding not to and pulling the paper from the flame. 

    Emika lingered in the doorway for a moment longer before slowly pacing to sit on the edge of Roshan's bed. She could see the scattered papers better now, could see that they were all love letters with the cheesiest prose she'd seen in her life, she could see that those little scraps of pink and red were indeed flower petals. How so very much like Roshan to melt at the sight of over-the-top-cheesy gestures like these. She couldn't help a soft smile at picturing the two of them passing these notes during team meetings, despite being just a room away from each other. "You kept...all of these?" she breathed.

     "I was there, you know," Roshan murmured, holding the burnt scrap in his hands. "That night. I heard something in the lobby - footsteps, the wheels of his suitcase. I went down and asked what the hell he thought he was doing." Roshan's eyes fell closed. "He looked a mess, his hair was all over the place, his eyes were bloodshot, his knuckles were still bloody from when he had gotten into a fistfight with someone from Team Andromeda during our latest match."

     Roshan curled his knees to his chest, looking as small and as vulnerable as Emika had ever seen him. "He barely gave me a second glance. Told me he was...he was seeing someone else. And just left. He left me in the dark, alone, after he had spent so much time reminding me that I wasn't alone."

     A tear slipped down Roshan's cheek. Emika put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Roshan," she said to him. 

     After a moment, Roshan looked up and hastily wiped his eyes. "I'm sorry you had to see me like this, Emika," he said, clearing his throat. 

     "No, don't apologize," Emika said softly. "It's okay. Thank you for telling me about...all of this." 

     A small smile from Roshan was all the validation she needed. He gently slumped his head against Emika's shoulder, and there they stayed, in comfortable silence, for a long while.

    "Maybe you could use a distraction," Emika finally said. "Would you want to go shopping or something?"

     Roshan nodded silently. But neither of them dared to move. 

     "I'm glad you're here, Emi," he finally said.

    Emika smiled. "I'm glad you're here, too."