E. Egg pushed through the last of the stems and stopped. Someone sat in the center of the tall grass, right where he always hid. His breath caught. The grass had been his alone every Easter — the one place no one looked for him because no one needed to. Now that safety was gone. A woven basket rested beside the stranger, half-filled with painted eggs. Beyond the grass, voices drifted from the field where the egg hunt continued. The stranger had chosen this spot deliberately, settling in as if they belonged here. E. Egg stood frozen at the edge, unable to enter and unable to leave. The stranger turned and saw him. E. Egg's throat tightened, the scream building in his chest like it always did when someone came too close. But the stranger just nodded once and looked back toward the field, showing no interest in claiming him as a discovery. The tension in E. Egg's shoulders stayed locked. He backed through the stems and circled around to the small outbuilding at the grass's edge. From the shadowed doorway, he could see his hiding spot occupied by someone else. The ritual was supposed to work because Jamie knew where he was without seeking him. Now someone had found the place itself, and E. Egg was the one outside looking in.

E. Egg stayed in the doorway of the outbuilding, watching the stranger through the grass stems. The voices from the egg hunt were getting louder now, moving closer to the tall grass. He needed somewhere else to go, somewhere that would feel the same as the hiding spot he'd lost. He circled behind the outbuilding and found a small space between the wall and a cluster of wild roses. The ground was bare except for a few crumpled candy wrappers someone had dropped there earlier. E. Egg pressed himself against the weathered wood and pulled the gold ring from his pocket — the one thing he always brought to his hiding spot, never shown to anyone. He turned it slowly between his fingers, watching the light catch the engravings. The ritual had never been about the ring itself. It was about having something private while Jamie knew where he was without needing to see. A basket landed in the grass near the outbuilding's corner. Then another. The egg hunters were spreading out from the field, their laughter sharp and too close. E. Egg's chest tightened. This space wasn't right. It was just a corner, not a hiding place. He could hear footsteps now, multiple sets, coming around both sides of the building. E. Egg slipped the ring back into his pocket and moved. He crossed the open ground to the tall grass, stepping past the stranger still sitting in his old spot. The stranger glanced up but said nothing. E. Egg pushed deeper into the grass, found a small clearing the stranger hadn't claimed, and sat down. The voices reached the outbuilding behind him. He could hear them searching the corners where he'd just been. But here in the grass, even in the wrong spot, the stems closed around him. He'd found a new place to hide. It wasn't his place anymore, but it would hold him until the hunt passed.

E. Egg sat in the new clearing, watching the grass stems shift in the wind. The stranger was still somewhere nearby, quiet in his old hiding spot. Then Jamie appeared, pushing through the tall grass, her face flushed from running. She stopped when she saw him and glanced back toward the voices. She didn't ask questions. She just reached down and took his hand, pulling him up. Her wooden bracelet pressed against his wrist as she led him deeper into the grass, away from the clearing he'd just claimed. The wildflowers grew thicker here, orange and pink and purple blooms tangled between the green stems. Jamie crouched low and pulled him down beside her. Through the flowers, E. Egg could see the crowd gathered at the edge of the field. People held their baskets high, laughing and calling to each other. They were close enough that he could hear individual voices. Jamie kept hold of his hand. She didn't let go even when they were both sitting still. E. Egg looked at their linked hands, then at her face. She was watching the crowd, her expression focused and calm. She'd found him in his new spot without hesitation, just like she always found him in the old one. The hiding spot had changed, but she'd still known exactly where to look. The crowd moved past, their voices fading as they headed toward the far side of the field. Jamie's grip loosened but she didn't pull away. E. Egg realized she wasn't going to ask him why he'd moved or what he needed. She already understood. The hiding worked because she knew where he was, and now she'd proven she could find him anywhere. He didn't have to tell her. She'd shown him instead.

The voices faded into the distance. Jamie's hand was still in his, warm and steady. E. Egg looked at her profile as she watched the last of the crowd disappear past the tall grass. She turned to him and smiled, but the smile didn't quite reach her eyes. She let go of his hand and stood up, brushing grass from her jeans. The banner at the field's edge hung limp now, the bright letters proclaiming the hunt that was already over. Jamie looked at it, then back at E. Egg. "I have to go," she said. Not an apology. Just a fact. E. Egg stayed sitting in the wildflowers, his throat tight. He wanted to say something—not to make her stay, but to tell her what this meant. That she was the only one who never treated finding him like winning. That the hiding only worked because she knew where he was. But the words felt too heavy, too much like asking for something he'd never needed to ask for before. Jamie reached up and unclasped her wooden bracelet. She held it for a moment, running her thumb over the carved initials, then crouched down and tucked it into the grass beside him. "For next time," she said quietly. E. Egg stared at the bracelet, at the way it settled among the candy wrappers scattered here from years of hunts. All the small pieces left behind, year after year, in the same spot where he'd always hidden. She'd known. She'd always known. He looked up at Jamie and nodded. Not because he understood what next time meant or when it would come. But because she'd just shown him something he couldn't unsee: the hiding wasn't just his. It never had been. Jamie stood and walked toward the banner, her footsteps quiet in the grass. E. Egg picked up the bracelet and closed his hand around it, feeling the smooth wood against his palm. The tall grass still held him. The ritual still worked. But now he knew why.