Zephrine ran out of the room, and Xavier was left, alone, sobbing harder than Rhys had ever seen him.

"My Lord," Rhys came out from his hiding space behind the curtain, tears streaming down his face. 

But before he could say anything more, Xavier, without looking back at him, whispered, "Just go, Rhys. You've done enough."

"'I'm sorry' is what I was going to say. Sorry actually doesn't begin to cover what I'm feeling." Rhys took Zephrine's spot across from Xavier. "I was wrong about you. And about her."

"Well, your timing is just perfect, isn't it?"

"You were right, she was right. You're better together, and if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have her back. She's not a kid anymore, and I need to stop treating her like one."

"Still having trouble concentrating on what you're saying because you could not have picked a worse time to have this epiphany!" Xavier spat at him.

"I'll talk to her."

"She hates me now! There's nothing you could do to make it better. Don't cause any more damage than you already have. Now leave so I can have the satisfaction of at least one Geûld sibling listening to me."

Rhys nodded, standing, and chasing after Zephrine. When he finally found her, she was sat up against his door, bawling her eyes out.

"Are you alright?" Rhys cautiously approached her.

"What do you think?" Zephrine wiped her nose on her sleeve. "I just found out that Xavier doesn't even love me, so I'm not doing too well."

"Look, Zeph, he does love you. All that stuff he said, I made him say it."

"Don't try to take the blame."

"I'm not. After I finished disinfecting you, I went out there and he was right there at the door, waiting. I told him to leave you."

"No, Rhys, you can't bail him out."

"At the time, I thought it was for your own safety, but then I heard how you spoke to him, I felt the love between you two."

"You were there?" Zephrine stood, holding onto her side as she did so. "Rhys, stop making my decisions for me."

"I know, and I'm so so so incredibly sorry."

"No, you're not. This is exactly what you do whenever anything makes you uncomfortable. You don't stop and think that maybe there are other people involved in this!"

"Zeph-"

"Are you like this with Caius and Rosario? Are you just that against anyone other than you having a happy ending? Or is it just me, like it's always been? You and Caius, you never stopped seeing me as the baby of the family, you never stopped trying to shelter me."

"We just wanted you to be safe..."

"The world isn't safe, Rhys. Nothing is safe, that's just life."

"I know that now-"

"You know, Eetu was the only one who saw me for what I am. An adult. I am not a kid, so stop treating me like one! I may be twelve years younger than you, but you're the one who's acting like a child."

"I didn't want to lose another sibling!"

"Too bad you just did." Zephrine shook her head as she pushed Rhys aside, attempting to go back up the stairs. She stumbled about three steps up, gasping in pain.

"Let me redress your bandages." Rhys caught her, dragging her back.

"Don't touch me!" She ordered, pushing him away with her right hand, which had a thin coat of blood over it. She looked back to her side, where the bandages had ripped open, soaking her dress through with blood. "Luckily, I know how to get blood out of cloth."

Rhys remembered his medical studies and shuddered. "Please, Zeph, you won't know what you're doing, you could hurt yourself."

"There you go again!"

"I'm not telling you as your brother, I'm telling you as a physician. From a medical standpoint. Just please, let me redo the bandages, and then you can hate me for the rest of your life."

"I don't hate you, Rhys." Zephrine supported herself on Rhys's shoulder reluctantly. "That would mean I still care about you. No, I'm indifferent."