"I don't think it's appropriate, Lukas."

Lukas sighed, rolled his eyes, and prepared himself for another long night.

"Jesse, I'm just trying to be accurate," he said, his usual reply.

Jesse glared at him, and all but threw the manuscript onto the desk "Look, I'm not all that crazy about Aiden or his actions either, but we can't just slander his name like this. You saw that letter- whether I decide to reunite with him or not, he's trying to better himself."

Doesn't mean he'll succeed, the bitter part of his mind whispered, the past trying to resurface in his mind. "Maybe he is, but that doesn't mean we should lie about his past actions."

"Why? It wouldn't be the first time you've done it," Jesse grumbled, standing up from the chair and crossing his arms, cutting off Lukas by saying- "Redstonia? Didn't happen like that. Boom Town? No big showdown. The lapis? Complete bullshit, we got our diamond- we were just there for the show, and Petra was just being a petty bitch. The weapon I used? Not a god damn pickax."

"Might I remind you who's idea that last edit was, thanks to your indecisive mind?" Lukas snapped at Jesse, not caring about how he winced or how he was failing to keep his fingers from clenching as he pressed himself up from his chair. "Those were all minor things anyways. Aiden's actions? A big deal."

"And you're not going to even change his name or anything?" Jesse asked, glare growing in force as his body tensed.

"We didn't change anyone else's names, why his?" Lukas replied, and looked away from Jesse's glare.

"Because this could affect his lives! Everyone else knows we're heroes and the Order lied, and everyone can see that Ivor's redeemed himself. But Aiden? Aiden doesn't get that liberty! He's not in Beacontown!"

"He's not in Beacontown for good reas- oh come on-" he whipped around to return Jesse's heated glare- "don't tell me you just forgot that he burned a city to the ground."

"Forget?" Jesse let out a broken, forced laugh. "How the hell could I forget? I still have nightmares about that shit! I'm still terrified of the ocean because of what he did! But unlike what you are doing, I-" he jabbed Lukas in the chest with an accusatory finger- "at least have the decency to treat him like a human being who has the right to change. You are just sitting here all petty and holding a grudge!"

"It's HIS fault he did those things Jesse, HE can pay the god damn consequences! Stop feeling so god damn sympathetic!" His blood was pounding and roaring in his ears, and he snapped and turned and started to storm off. "I don't want to talk about this any more!"

With how loud his blood was roaring and his anger was churning, he didn't think he could hear anything else.

Not until Jesse screamed "YOU'RE JUST LIKE SOREN!"

And everything went from burning to frozen.

And memories swarmed into resurfacing, pulsing and racing to the front of his mind-

"I hate that bastard, he's such a coward-"

"He ran away, he left us-"

"No, he didn't take any responsibility Lukas-"

"Lukas, you can't understand how much I hate him-"

"I may not always agree with them, but at least they're not Soren-"

"You mean Soren, the worst piece of shit in existence?"

Jesse's words after that pounded him.

"YOU NEVER TAKE ANY RESPONSIBILITIES FOR YOUR ACTIONS LUKAS, YOU NEVER HAD! YOU HOLD THESE PETTY-ASS GRUDGES THAT YOU NEVER LET GO OF, YOU HOLD NO GOD DAMN RESPECT FOR ANYONE NO MATTER HOW MUCH THEY AVOID YOU OR APOLOGIZE, AND WHEN YOU DO FACE A PROBLEM, YOU RUN AWAY! YOU RUN AWAY LIKE A GOD DAMN COWARD, LIKE YOU'RE DOING RIGHT NOW? HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO 'TRUST' SOMEONE WHO DOES THAT? HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO TREAT SOMEONE AS A PERSON, WHEN YOU HAVE NO RESPECT FOR ANYONE ELSE? HO- h- how-"

Wrathful screamed devolved into choked sobs.

He couldn't breath, the words wrapping around him and choking him and making everything except the hot wetness pricking at his eyes seem frozen.

"You can't even look at me now, coward."

And those last words stun.

Jesse said nothing else, and all Lukas was left with was the footsteps that echoed as they pounded against the iron floors, and the distant sounds of crying.

And then Lukas was left alone.

With the knowledge of failure crushing his chest, guilt crawling all over his body and his blood and up his throat, and Jesse's hatred burning and freezing all at once-

Jesse had compared him to Soren.

The man Jesse hated the most.

And that meant Jesse hated Lukas.

Jesse hated him.

No one was witness to him breaking into tears in the hallway of the Order of the Stone, alone.