Alec and I exchange a charged look, both of us straightening our clothes and running our hands through our hair. “Hang on! I’m not decent.”

Sean’s muffled voice answers immediately, “Oh, of course. Take your time.”

I point to the bathroom. Alec, shaking his head and angry with himself, barrels in with long strides. I run to the front door, unlock it and open it, but not all the way. Sean glances to my dress, his eyes narrowing in confusion. “It was right there, so I just slipped it back on,” I explain with a strange laugh. “Dresses. Only one piece. We’re so lucky.”

He smiles. “I just wanted to say I saw your face when I left, and I know you felt badly we were going out without you. Like we were trying to get rid of you.”

I say on a nervous laugh, “Oh, no. I was fine with it.”

Sean leans on my doorframe and cocks his head to the side. “No you weren’t. And it was rude of me to tell you we were going out again. We weren’t getting rid of you. It’s just we’re going gambling, and it’s a guy’s club.”

I blink at this, momentarily surprised. “They still have those?”

He gives a small chuckle, looking to the side. “Yeah. Anyway, it wasn’t about you. Okay?”

Touched, I smile at him. I’m trying to take this sweetness in, but the obvious cause for distraction is really making that a challenge. “That’s really nice of you. I’m okay.”

“We want to get to know you, Rue.”

“We?” I ask, knowing the answer.

“I want to get to know you. Jack will come around.” He pushes off the doorframe.

Impulsively, I grab Sean in a big hug. He laughs and awkwardly hugs me back, which ain’t easy with how I’ve got his arms trapped in a vice grip. “Thank you, Sean. Really. Thank you.”

He laughs and when I release him, he says, “You still smell like Alec. I’m going to have to tell him to knock off that cologne.”

With my best attempt at a chuckle, I say, “Ha ha. Yeah.” Just as I’m about to close the door, he stops it with his foot.

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah, it’s fine. I’m fine. Really, everything’s…”

“Fine?” He smiles, and I laugh, but then his eyes get very serious and his voice deepens as he touches the doorframe, peeling off a bit of old paint. “Look, Rue, it may not be my place to say anything. I know this brotherly kind of stuff is earned, but I don’t know. I feel protective of you. It’s weird, I know. And Alec…I know him. I know him very well. He’ll break your heart. And not just break it…it’ll be so brittle when he’s done with it that if you dropped it on the ground, it would shatter. He’s a rockstar, Rue. Everything you’ve heard about them is true. I love him, but he’s not ready for anything real. I don’t know if any of us are, but he most definitely tops the list. He wouldn’t be faithful. That life wouldn’t make you happy.”

My stomach feels like someone’s squeezing it. I look at the floor so as not to look toward the bathroom, hoping desperately that Alec can’t hear this. Defiantly, I ask my new brother, “How do you know what would make me happy?”

Sean frowns. “What person is happy with infidelity?” I meet his eyes, resisting the truth, but knowing he’s right. “I’m just trying to warn you. Steer clear of him, before it’s too late. Understand?”

I nod. “Yeah. Okay, g’night.”

“G’night.” He turns around and walks away as I lock the door again, haunted by what he said as I walk to the bathroom. But the door opens and Alec appears, clearly having heard all of it. He doesn’t look at me as he heads for the window, peering out the curtains and watching as they drive off. “Well, now I know what he thinks of me.”

“He wasn’t trying to be cruel; he was just being protective of me and I…” I stop on his abrupt shift of profile. It’s become steel-like–his jaw tight, clenched, angry.

He walks to leave. “This is the worst thing I’ve ever done.”

I cry out, surprising both of us, “Don’t say that!”

He lays his forehead on the door and closes his eyes, just like I did earlier. His knuckles are white, gripping the doorknob. “You know how you said he wasn’t trying to be cruel? The thing is, words are only cruel if they’re true.” He turns the knob and leaves.

I catch the door before it closes, and call after him, “Alec!” but he doesn’t look back, and with a few more long, quick strides, he becomes the darkness that surrounds him. I stare after him long after he’s gone, wondering from the pain in my heart if Sean was right. But the depth I saw in Alec’s eyes was beautiful. To be on the road all the time, never really connecting. Alec needs someone to love. That’s what I think.