Nathan inhaled sharply. “Is there anything I can do to help? Do you… want a cup of tea?”
I laughed bitterly and swiped away my tears. “I think we’re past the cup of tea stage of the crisis. Unless you know someone who can put me into witness protection, I’ll handle it on my own.”
“Witness protection?” he repeated, looking even more concerned. Why did he care so much?
“Bad joke. I’m just… if she found me here, I’m worried she might be following me. Or, having me followed. I don’t know; this whole thing is insane.”
They couldn’t know where I lived. Even if I hadn’t been as diligent with privacy since Sebastian died, Omega Centers were the safest places on Earth. Right?
Nathan rocked on his heels and looked down thoughtfully. “If you want, I could come with you? And make sure you get home safely?”
I almost laughed again. “You don’t need to do that. I was only joking.”
He shook his head. “Even so, it would make me feel better.”
I wanted to protest again, but I stopped. Iwasterrified she’d be waiting for me on the street outside and I’d shut down again. Or lose my mind completely and push her into traffic. There was also the very real possibility that I’d have a flashback on the train, and that would be a disaster.
Would it really be so horrible to have some Alpha backup?
I found myself nodding in agreement. “Okay.”
“Okay?” Nathan asked. He dipped his head to meet my eyes. “You’ll let me take you home?”
I nodded tightly. “Yes. Thank you.”
“Good. Alright. Let me get my jacket.”
The weather was deceptive. It was a sunny day, but a cruel breeze blew down the corridors of the streets, trapped and funneled into huge gusts by the buildings on either side. As we stepped outside, the wind whipped at my hair and coat and blew away most of Andrew and Gabriel’s scents.
There was no one waiting on the street for me. I breathed a sigh of relief, quickly followed by a rush of embarrassment.
“This was stupid,” I shouted to Nathan over the wind. “You can go back up. I’ll be fine.”
Nathan’s face was implacable. “I would still like to come with you, if that’s alright.”
Somehow, the thought of sending him back upstairs was even more mortifying than having him stay. “Okay, sure. I mean… thank you.”
The wind fought us for two blocks until we got to the train station and escaped below ground. Since it was mid-afternoon, the station was relatively empty, with just a few other passengers at the other end of the platform, and the train drew up just as we arrived.
Once we settled into our seats, I let the silence spool out between us for a few minutes before I couldn’t take it anymore. The train jostled us, our shoulders almost touching as it hurtled down the tracks.
“I’m really sorry about all of this. I promise I won’t let my issues affect my work. Anymore than they already have, obviously.” I twisted my fingers in my lap.
Nathan didn’t respond right away. “Why do you apologize so often?”
I looked up. He was watching me with that intent gaze. “I don’t apologizethatmuch.”
He considered that. “Maybe not about work. But this is the second time you’ve apologized for an understandable reaction to a stressful situation.”
I didn’t know how to respond, so I looked down at my lap. Annoyingly, my first instinct was to apologize again.
“You don’t need to apologize for your emotions,” he said.
A tiny kernel of anger flared. “That’s easy to say when you aren’t judged for evenhavingemotions. Some guys in my freshman year lab started trying to track another student’s period because she got ‘hysterical’ over some poor results.”
That had been my first experience in a university environment. I took all of my classes online, but still had to go in for lab work, and I was surprised the situation hadn’t scared me completely away. But I had just made myself small like I always did, hoping they wouldn’t zero in on me next.
Nathan made a disgusted noise. “I hope someone reported them.”
