Trust. That was a magic word, wasn't it? Not revealing secrets meant he didn't trust her. Wanting privacy meant he didn't trust her. Having reservations or fears meant an absence of trust, which was his fault and his burden to bear. But at the same time, Alice was claiming (or at least he interpreted it) that he should have smothered his feelings for Sloane, smothered his feelings for anyone because of a crush he hadn't been aware of a month ago. This was absolute blarney.
"But she obviously didn't trust me enough to tell me how she felt. How could she expect me to know anything? Sloane? Sloane didn't know anything, either, because Sisse obviously didn't trust her enough! But we're in the wrong for not telling everyone," he fired back.
"I'm a boy, Alice—and I'm not saying that as an excuse. I don't expect you girls to share you deepest secrets to me, but I also don't expect you to blame me for having secrets of my own. That's manipulative. Everyone has secrets. I bet there's things you've never told me, never told Sisse." Tears trickled down his cheeks, but he remained unshaken in his resolve. He was right.
"I don't fear you. I didn't fear anyone to begin with." That was why they got caught so quickly. A lack of cautiousness. He stepped closer and lowered his voice. "Sisse found out less than a month in. We didn't even know if it would last that long. It... it was such an in-the-moment thing, Alice." He remembered how amazed he'd felt to have gone a whole week without fighting with Sloane after they initially admitted their feelings for each other. Now nearly two months later he had no doubts that he and Sloane could make a good pair on their own if they could only escape the constant drama that plagued them. "I only began to fear when Sisse reacted so badly. You said you'd never do anything to hurt us, but you're hurting me right now. Don't you see?"
"But she obviously didn't trust me enough to tell me how she felt. How could she expect me to know anything? Sloane? Sloane didn't know anything, either, because Sisse obviously didn't trust her enough! But we're in the wrong for not telling everyone," he fired back.
"I'm a boy, Alice—and I'm not saying that as an excuse. I don't expect you girls to share you deepest secrets to me, but I also don't expect you to blame me for having secrets of my own. That's manipulative. Everyone has secrets. I bet there's things you've never told me, never told Sisse." Tears trickled down his cheeks, but he remained unshaken in his resolve. He was right.
"I don't fear you. I didn't fear anyone to begin with." That was why they got caught so quickly. A lack of cautiousness. He stepped closer and lowered his voice. "Sisse found out less than a month in. We didn't even know if it would last that long. It... it was such an in-the-moment thing, Alice." He remembered how amazed he'd felt to have gone a whole week without fighting with Sloane after they initially admitted their feelings for each other. Now nearly two months later he had no doubts that he and Sloane could make a good pair on their own if they could only escape the constant drama that plagued them. "I only began to fear when Sisse reacted so badly. You said you'd never do anything to hurt us, but you're hurting me right now. Don't you see?"
