Alec opened his mouth to refute such a claim, and then paused. He hesitated. “It’s more complicated than that,” he said. He stepped to the sink, noticing Noah’s mug from before. He could still see bits of hot chocolate on the sides of it. Without realizing what he was doing, he turned on the faucet and waited until the water was hot. He grabbed a sponge and began to wash it.
“I don’t understand,” she said, her voice flat. She made her way across the kitchen until she was next to him, reaching the sink a few seconds later. She tilted her head to the side and waited.
Alec tried to ignore the expectant look on his sister’s face as he rinsed the soap off of the mug. He had no idea why he was even washing this in the first place. He sure as hell didn’t wash dishes and he had no idea why he was starting now. When he finished, he turned off the faucet and grabbed a towel to dry it.
“What’s not to understand?” he asked without looking at her. “I mean, you and Jack are together, right? Do you see me complaining about it?”
“Uh, every day,” she pointed out. “You make your snide little comments all the time. You think Jack likes it?”
“He’s dating my sister,” Alec pointed out, setting the mug down. “Why the fuck do I care if he likes it or not. He has to realize that this is the treatment he receives for crossing that line.”
“There’s a line now?”
“There’s always been a line amongst men, okay?” Alec said, leaning back against the counter. “Men don’t date their sisters. And not, like their sisters. More like… you know. The other sisters.”
“I’m just going to stop you right there before you confuse yourself and this turns into a sad moment of you trying to explain yourself while digging yourself even further into a hole,” she said, holding up a hand. “What about the rule between brothers and sisters?”
Alec wrinkled his forehead. “There’s no rule.”
“Of course, there’s a rule,” she said. “Brothers and sisters have to promise not to sleep with each other’s friends.”
“Okay, fine. You’re breaking the rule, aren’t you?” Lily’s eyes went wide at Alec’s blunt accusation and turned from him to head to the living room. “I know you are.” He quickly followed. “You don’t have to say anything. So, why can you do it, but I can’t? How is that fair?”
“It’s not,” she said, lifting his shoulder into a shrug. “You’re right about that, but unfortunately, that doesn’t change anything.”
“You know she’s going through something, right?” Lily dropped her voice considerably, and took a step towards Alec. He stood behind the couch. He could feel the droplets of the water that were still there from him washing the mug seep into his shirt, pressing against his skin. “I’m not going to tell you what it is because it isn’t my place to do so, but you do realize that she’s here for a reason. She’s not living here just to live here. This isn’t some sleepover arrangement where me and her are giddy and listening to Spice Girls and consuming cheese whip.”
Alec scrunched his nose. “Please don’t tell me you actually consume cheese whip, Lily,” he said. “Even you are better than that.”
“Alec,” she hissed. “I’m being serious.”
Alec let out a breath and looked away, his eyes trailing over to the door he had emerged from. He knew what Noah was going through. He didn’t want her to continue to go through it. Talking about it just made him angry. He didn’t like know Noah endured something that vile, that terrible. He wanted to go find her ex and smash his face in. Part of him didn’t even care about the damage it would no doubt do to his career. He just wanted the satisfaction of seeing pain flit across his face, of hearing bones crunch underneath his knuckles.
“Yes,” he said finally, looking back at Lily. “Yes. I know, okay? I know what she’s going through. She told me.”
Lily blinked once. “She told you?” She crossed her arms over her chest, narrowing her eyes. “What do you mean, she told you?”
“I don’t know how else you want me to say it, other than she told me,” Alec said.
Lily clenched her jaw. It was clear she didn’t believe him, which was fine by Alec. Alec didn’t feel like he needed to explain anything. She either took his word for it, or she didn’t. There was no in between.
“How?”
“How, what?” Alec pushed off from the sink and brushed past her sister. “She told me with her mouth, but that wasn’t until after the asshole showed up here, threatening her.”
“I’m sure it didn’t help that the video of the two of you kissing at the Spectrum went viral,” she said.
Alec grinned. “So, you saw that,” he stated.
“Everyone saw that,” Lily snapped, doing a good job of keeping her voice low. “You better have some kind of idea of what you’re doing, Alec. You better not be fucking around with Noah’s feelings. If you say you know, I believe you. Then, you should also know she’s really vulnerable right now.”
“What does that even mean?” Alec asked.
“It means, she might not actually care about you,” Lily said. “She might want to feel love and to feel safe from anyone who would show her such kindness. I just don’t want you to take advantage of that.”
Alec clenched his teeth together for a moment, looking at his sister with obvious frustration. He wanted to growl at her. He
