Bing sat on the couch in front of Darcy’s desk, tapping his foot mechanically while staring at the nearest wall. Darcy peeked over his laptop at him for the fifth time in an hour. His eyes went past Bing to where Carter sat picking at his nails between glances at Bing. The unusual silence was more distracting than the normal noise of their presence.

“This has gone on quite long enough, don’t you think?” Darcy asked into the silence.

Bing’s head turned, his eyes showing a pain that Darcy wished he’d done more to help his friend avoid. “What do you mean?”

“It’s been three weeks, Bing. You’ve got to get over her,” Carter said. “Jane just wasn't that interested in you, apparently."

Even Darcy, who considered himself fairly oblivious to others’ emotions, winced at Carter’s harsh words. Yes, it was the truth, but surely there were more gentle ways to say the same thing. Bing’s face twisted, his mouth opening almost as if he might yell at his brother, before he simply turned around to look at Darcy. “Is he right, Darce?”

Darcy hesitated. It wasn't so much that Darcy disliked Jane or her family. He simply didn’t think Jane felt the same way as Bing did, and he needed someone who appreciated him the way he deserved.

Carter spoke into the void. "Of course that's the way Darcy feels.” His voice turned unexpectedly soft and soothing. “Darcy understands that there will be far too many people in this world who wish to take advantage of you. They won’t actually love you."

Darcy winced. That was cruel of Carter to say, no matter what tone of voice he used. “Actually Bing, I just never saw that much enthusiasm from Jane toward to you as I wanted to see. It was like she lacked the amount of passion that one would expect to see between a couple when they are in love."

Bing said nothing, which allowed Carter to jump in and add his voice on top of Darcy's. “Yes, yes that's it exactly! Jane never loved you, she just wanted to be with you."

A look of confusion flooded Bing's face. “Isn't wanting to be with somebody exactly what being in love is?"

Carter laughed. "No, brother dear, being with someone is not the same thing as being in love.”

Darcy felt as if he been punched in the gut. That sentiment was exactly what he thought with regard to Eliot. He wanted to be with Eliot, but he didn't actually love Eliot. If he were honest with himself, he didn't even know what romantic love was.

Darcy understood love for a sister. He barely understood love for a dear friend, and he was thankful Bing put up with him. He even understood, to a lesser extent, love for an absent or misguided parent. But love for someone that you wanted to be with in a way that was more than simply physical? That, he didn't know.

Bing groaned and buried his hands in his face. "I thought she loved me. I almost told her that I loved her."

Carter gasped in horror. “You didn’t.”

“I said I almost told her that I loved her,” Bing clarified.

Carter flopped back on the couch, his hand going to his heart dramatically. “Thank god you didn't or we would be trapped with her forever.”

Darcy scowled. Carter's more dramatic moments never appealed to Darcy even on his most cheerful days. Today, they were grating on him like a rake of nails.

“Bing, it’s been three weeks and you haven't heard from Jane at all. Not once." Darcy didn't think about the fact that he hadn't heard from Eliot either. Granted, it wasn't like he actually expected to.

Bing pointed his finger at Darcy. “I haven't contacted her either. She might think I used her, just like you all are claiming she did me.”

Darcy recognized the inherent issue with that thinking. “No Bing, I'm fairly certain, with regard to omegas, that if they want to be with you they spend a lot of effort to stay in contact with you.”

Carter sat up straight. “Yes, yes that's it exactly! Any omega who wants to be with an alpha takes the time to contact him. I don't know any omegas who let weeks go by before they call or text if they’re interested.”

Darcy swallowed a snappish comment about how annoying it was when that sentiment wasn’t returned. He’d received enough texts from Carter that he’d blocked his number. Carter didn’t seem to know or care.

“Honestly, Bing, she should've contacted you, like, a hundred times the next day—”

At a scoffing noise from Darcy, Carter amended his statement. “Well, at least within that first week then. Darcy, you know she would have contacted him multiple times had she really been in love with him.”

Darcy thought back to how Gina had been with George after he learned how the man drew her in. It was true that Gina had spent a lot of time attempting to contact the silent and seemingly in accessible George. “It is my experience, Bing, that omegas do go out of their way to stay at the forefront of your life when they want you in their lives.”

Bing sagged into the couch cushions, the slouch of his shoulders displaying his feelings of rejection. There was silence from his friend and brother as they waited to see what he would say or if they would need to say more in defense of their stance.

Almost a full two minutes passed before Bing looked up and said, “You know, I think I need to take a vacation.”

Carter clapped his hands, squealing with glee. “That, dear brother, is an excellent idea."

Darcy barely knew what a vacation was. But of all times, this was probably the best to attempt one. He needed a distraction, and he had no meetings for the next few weeks that couldn’t be rescheduled or managed online. “I could use a vacation myself,” he said, surprising his companions. “What did you have in mind?"