Then he looks at me. Not the way he did two days ago, or in the dark with Lily between us.
"Knox is arranging for you to stay at his and Sarah's for a few days. Until the patrols are settled."
"What?"
"It's safer."
He turns away. Finn glances at me. Lily puts her fork down.
I stand up.
"Lily, stay with Finn."
I follow Colt down the hallway and catch the door before it closes.
"Don't." He doesn't turn around. "Ellie, don't, please."
I step inside and shut the door behind me. He's standing behind the desk with his back to me, both hands flat on the surface, his head down.
"You haven't looked at me all morning," I say. "You won't sit in the same room. And now you're sending me to Knox and Sara's like I'm something you can order around."
"It's not—"
"You're not protecting me. You're deciding for me." My voice stays level but my hands shake. I put them behind my back. "That's what Derek did."
He turns around. The look on his face tells me that landed where I aimed it.
"Don't you dare compare me to him."
"Then stop acting like him."
The room goes quiet. Colt pulls his glasses off his head and sets them on the desk. He sits down in the chair.
"The photograph," he says. "The one they left on Lily's door."
"What about it?"
"You were in it." He looks at his hands. "They know about you because of me." His voice drops. "And I know what it costs to lose someone. I can't do it again, Ellie."
I don't move. I don't speak.
"That's what this is," I say. "You're not angry. You're terrified."
"I'm both."
"Colt—"
"I can't do it again." He presses his palms against his eyes. "I can't lose another person I love."
The door opens.
Lily stands in the doorway. She looks at her father and then she looks at me standing against the wall, she stands there like she already knows.
"Mom would be so mad at you right now," she says.
Colt drops his hands.
"She'd be so mad, Dad. I can see what you're doing. I'm twelve, not stupid."
