Ronan.

Thank God.

[ Gansey just about has time to get that out before he's wrapped in a crushing hug. He doesn't care; he's returning it with as much force, because Jesus, the last time he'd seen Ronan, he'd seen him writhing in the car. He'd been fighting off a demon from the inside, and it had been terrible, painful, to watch. Gansey had just needed to stop it.

And he had, or at least he thinks he did. That's what the sacrifice had been for. And he doesn't think that Cabeswater could have brought him back if the demon were still there, attacking it. He had felt the forest in that moment, because it became a part of him, and there had been no taint of that creature.

So it must have worked. In his head, he knows that. He's been running those thoughts over and over, replaying those moments in his mind. He'd done what he needed to do. It had to mean that Ronan was okay.

But that doesn't have the same effect as seeing his friend in the flesh. He hugs him so tightly, and pulls back only to get a clear look at his face. and even with that, he doesn't quite let go. He's searching Ronan's eyes. ]

Are you all right? Did it work, is it gone? It must be, or you'd still be pulling mint leaves from nowhere.