Page 76 of All the way home

Kieran squeezes his eyes shut, as though if he can’t see her he won’t have to think about what she’s saying. “Fucking hell, Reen. It’s not an excuse.”

At this, she loses patience. “Isn’t it?” Rena shakes her head. “Come on. You knew exactly what you were doing.”

“You make it sound like I’m some kind of master manipulator.”

Lucas shifts in his seat.

Kieran rounds on him. “Oh, I beg you to say what you’re thinking.”

Raising both hands, Lucas says, “Please leave me out of this.”

“Leave you out of it?” Kieran lets out an incredulous laugh. “See, from what I’ve heard, that’s not what you want at all.”

Rena makes a sound like she’s been punched. If she didn’t think it would make everything worse, she would vault over the suitcases and run away through the terminal.

Slowly, Lucas turns toward her. Hurt laces every gentle word as he asks, “You told him?”

Kieran leans back in his seat, arms folded, looking for all the world like a victor despite the fact that he won’t meet Rena’s eye.

“Not—” Rena cuts off. “Not everything.”

Lucas shakes his head, leaning forward and rubbing at his eyes.

At last, Kieran looks at her. Rena sees the subtle triumph in his eyes and understands that he knows exactly what he’s doing.

“What is wrong with you?” It’s out before Rena realizes she’s going to say it. The second it hits the air—the second it fractures on impact and the triumph shatters—she regrets it. But she knows better than to think she can rewrite history.

For a long time, neither of them break eye contact. Before, staring like this always felt like a hard reset. You and me. Left and right.

Not anymore.

Eyes hard and bright, Kieran doesn’t cry. It might be easier if he cried, but his expression doesn’t shift an inch. “Everything, apparently.”

“Don’t,” Rena says. “That’s not—you don’t get to do that.”

“Do what?”

“I’m allowed to be upset with you.”

“Never said you weren’t,” Kieran says, examining his fingernails as he gets to his feet, voice light. “Well, I guess, fuck you both. Have a fantastic evening. See you when we board.”

“Kieran—”

He strides away.

Rena watches him go for half a second before she’s up, chasing after him.

He’s walking too fast for her to catch up.

“I don’t want a fight,” she calls after him.

He fixes her with a tight, grim smile over his shoulder. “Should have thought of that before you started one.”

“I didn’t start it!”

“Oh, so I did?”

“You told Lucas we were talking about him.” At last, Rena catches up with him, snatching his coat sleeve. “Why would you do that?”