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"I'm alright."
"Okay." I sit down on my bed and fidget with the hem of my shirt. I want to outright ask him what he's doing here, but I can't bring myself to get the words out.
"I see you've gained a couple more." He gestures towards Aspen, who is still sat with Rhubarb, trying to get used to her new surroundings, no doubt.
"Yes. That's Aspen. She's about ten minutes old." I twist around. "And that's Seth by the chair. The new one sat with Ginger is called Romeo."
"You've been busy." He chuckles.
"Just a little bit."
Silence falls again and I hate every moment of it. I draw in a deep breath, readying myself for what I know I need to say.
"What are you doing here?" I blurt out.
Caspian glances away from me, nerves written all over his features. "I saw a cute cat video and it reminded me of you," he admits softly. "I was going to send it to you..."
"But then you realised we aren't really speaking to each other," I finish for him. "I don't like it any more than you do," I point out, deciding that the time is right to spend some time watching two of the kittens chase a patch of light across the floor. I'm not even sure what's making it appear, but I should find out. The two of them are thoroughly entertained.
"Then what can we do about it?"
I look up, surprised to see so much hope on his face. "You want to fix this?"
"I thought I made that clear, outside the library."
"No, you made it clear that you were mad at me, I didn't pick up on anything else," I counter.
"Oh."
"So, what was it that you thought was clear?" I raise an eyebrow, more intrigued than ever for his response.
A little paw batting at my knee draws my attention back to Rhubarb.
"Sorry, little one." I lift my arms and let him climb onto my lap. He does, then looks at his new friend, letting out a cute little mewl and calling her to him. Aspen narrows her eyes, clearly not so sure about what he wants. But after a moment of thinking about it, she pads forwards and joins him on my knee. I'm impressed the two of them both fit on. I've never thought that two kittens might be able to. Soft purrs emanate from the two of them, and they close their eyes.
Caspian chuckles. "Somehow, I was hoping that would take longer so I'd have more time to think."
Despite my nerves, I crack a smile. "Isn't that always the way? When you want them
to take ages, it's over in seconds."
"They must have such a simple life."
"Now you're just stalling. Out with it." I want this over and done with as quickly as he does.
He sighs and rubs a hand over his face. "Is this really all over who my step-sister is?" he asks.
"No." My answer is quick and firm. I hope he doesn't think I'm lying. "I was hurt by the fact you know how I feel about Ivy and yet didn't think it was important enough to tell me about your relation to her."
"Ah. I feared as much." I wait for him to continue. At least, I hope he's going to. It seems like he has so much more that he needs to say. Something is clearly bothering him about this, but I'm not sure what it is.
He stays quiet, and I use the time to scratch behind Rhubarb's ear. His purrs grow louder, but doesn't open his eyes.
"I used to think my parents were happy," he says after another couple of moments staying quiet. "They met here, spent all their time together, and then got married once they graduated. Dad went into the army, Mum got some kind of admin job, I don't really know. Sometimes, they'd argue about her being so set on pursuing something. They must have had that argument dozens of times a month."
"I'm so sorry." I can't imagine what that must have been like for him. My parents argue sometimes, but not that often, and it's always obvious that they love each other through it all.
"It was. They fell out of love. If they were ever in it in the first place. Sometimes, when I think about how I feel now, I start to doubt that."
