"You're making it worse," she said.
"I've stopped," I replied.
My fingers brushed against her cheek gently, wiping at a stray tear. How was I meant to keep a lid on this now?
"Look at them!" Holden said, sitting up.
"Give it a rest!" Gareth told him. He pinched the bridge of his nose and said, "Holden, I'm enforcing two weeks of leave."
"What?!"
"You heard me."
"I didn't do anything!"
"You need to calm down."
Holden was up on his feet, looking furious. "Why am I being punished for something they did?"
"It's not a punishment! You need to calm down. This information doesn't leave this office or there will be disciplinary action taken."
Holden looked ready to argue, but he wrenched the door open and left the office, slamming it shut behind him. Quentin flinched, and I moved towards her.
"Both of you," Gareth said. "Sit."
Quentin dropped into a seat obediently, and I sat beside her.
"I don't want to know how or why," Gareth told us. "You both know this isn't allowed."
Quen wrung her hands in her lap.
"Grayson, I'd like to speak to Quentin alone," Gareth said to me.
"No." I wasn't about to leave her on her own.
"Gray," she whispered, without looking up. "Let me speak to him."
I didn't feel comfortable leaving her. It was my job to protect her, and although most of the time I knew she didn't need it, she wasn't herself. She needed someone to take the reins. But how was I meant to argue without making it worse?
"I'm okay," she assured me poorly.
I got up from the seat. "I'll be in the lab."
I listened to the click of the door as Gray left the room, and a sense of dread filled my stomach worse than it had in years. I couldn't bring myself to look Gareth in the eye.
"Scott." He heaved a laboured sigh. "What is going on?"
"I don't know."
"Really?"
I didn't know. I had no idea what was going on. I knew I needed Gray. I knew I couldn't stay away from him, but I couldn't tell Gareth that. My gaze drifted to the ceiling, searching for an answer in between the tiles.
"Whatever it is, it's more than what Holden saw, isn't it?" Gareth asked. My head snapped back to argue, but he held up a hand. "Don't. The way he was looking at you. The way you calmed him down."
My heart thudded violently in my chest, and I felt light-headed. We’d spent so long in secrecy that I couldn’t believe it’d exploded into this chaotic mess.
"I can't condone whatever's happening here," he said.
