We stand and head for the door. Luke follows.
"Ethan," he says as I'm about to leave.
I turn back.
"Take care of her. That's all I ask."
"I will."
"I know you will. That's why I'm okay with this."
I nod. I don't trust myself to speak.
Callie hugs her brother, they exchange words I don't hear. Then we're outside, walking to my truck.
"That went better than expected," she says.
"Yeah."
"You okay?"
"I think so."
"You think so?"
I stop and turn to face her. "I'm committed to this. To you. To making this work. But I need you to understand something."
"What?"
"I'm not going to lie to Luke again. Not for you, not for anyone. If that's a problem, we need to figure it out now."
She studies my face. "It's not a problem, I don't want to lie to him either."
"Good."
"So what now?"
"Now I take you home. Get some sleep. Tomorrow we figure out what comes next."
"Together?"
"Together."
I drive her to her apartment, and walk her to the door. She unlocks it and turns to face me.
"Stay," she says.
"Your brother just gave us a lecture about honesty."
"I know, but I also know that I don't want to be alone tonight."
I should say no. I should maintain some kind of boundary. And I should do the responsible thing.
"Okay," I say.
We go inside. She locks the door behind us. We don't talk about what happened with Luke. Don't analyze or process. Just go to bed and lie there in the darkness.
"Ethan?" Her voice is quiet.
