Kai was getting worried too. He called her more frequently than Thorne, but every time he did she'd let it go to voicemail. Then, she deflected by sending him a quick text saying that she was in an interview, or working hard, or out with a friend.

She was such a liar. She was just avoiding him. Cress hated confrontation and she knew that there would be no way to avoid telling him everything. Kai's eyes were too kind and patient and warm for her to not spill everything the second she looked at him.

On Friday, she finally called him.

"Cress, are you okay?" It was the first thing he asked; he didn't even say hello.

"Yes," she said. "I'm sorry I didn't call you sooner. I've been busy."

"I was worried."

"I know."

"Are you mad because I didn't text you back the night of the wedding? I was out with my friends and left my phone at home." There was some silence on the line. "You looked incredibly beautiful though. I wish I could have been there."

"I know," said Cress. "I got your messages afterward."

"When can I see you?"

"Are you free tonight?"

Kai breathed a sigh of relief. "Of course. Should I come over?"

She wanted to say yes—she had no desire to go out tonight. But if Kai came over, it could be harder to get rid of him if things didn't go as planned. In her imagination she fashioned herself as brave and ready for confrontation, but reality showed her a different picture of herself. She needed an escape plan in case her confession went in a direction she couldn't handle. What if he dumped her? She couldn't have him in her apartment then.

"Can I come to your place instead?"

Unlike her, his answer was immediate. "Definitely. I'll order something for us. How's Chinese?"

She would be too nervous to eat, she knew it already, but she wasn't about to tell him that. "Chinese sounds good."

Kai's apartment was dim when she stepped inside, and he grinned mischievously as she observed the kitchen behind him. Candles lit up the dinner table, flickering warm against the darkened room. Instead of the familiar scent of steaming Chinese take-out, there were hints of meat and roasted vegetables wafting towards her from the table. The curtains that hung against his balcony doors were pushed aside, blowing gently in the summer breeze.

Kai then made to kiss her, but she immediately stepped back. Hurt flashed over him like the wavering lights behind him. The first wave of hurt of what she was sure would be many more to come.

"Cress, what's wrong?

She had practiced exactly what to say in front of her mirror. Her lines were memorized. And yet, her tongue was stuck to the roof of her mouth somehow. "It's just that, well…" She bit her lip. "Something…bad…happened. At the wedding." Wrong lines, Cress, she thought. The director can tell you're not sticking to the script.

"Whatever it is, you can tell me. I just need to know that you're okay."

When she dared to look him in the eyes, his expression was rimmed with worry. It filled her with guilt. She had to tell him, even if looking at him now was making her forget every line she'd practiced.

"I didn't want it," she said. "I said no, please believe me, but Thorne he—he—he kissed me and—"

Cress burst into tears, Kai's widening eyes combined with her confession too much for her to handle. She wrapped her arms around herself as Kai's hands curled into fists at his sides. She cried harder when she saw his face change from shock to anger. She had expected him to be somewhat upset, but the way steam was practically coming out of his ears made her take a step back. There were tissues in her purse on purpose, and she grabbed for them now, trying to calm herself. She had been right to be worried. Kai hated her already.

"Did you call the police?" he finally said, his voice measured and steely.

"W-what?"

"Did you report this? Is that where you've been all week?" He ran a hand down his face and shook his head, then seemed to change his mind. Suddenly, his arms were around her and she was pressed against his chest with so much force it nearly suffocated her. "No, I'm sorry, Cress. That was none of my business. I shouldn't have asked." He smoothed her hair, but her sobs were dying down as her mind started sorting through his words. "I know it was your choice not to tell me. But I would have been there for you, if you'd wanted. I just want you to know that. And from now on—"

"Wait." Cress peeled herself off of his chest and wiped her nose. "What are you talking about?"

"I would have come to the station with you. Stayed with you. Been whatever you needed. I'm just glad you're okay. I mean, not okay—stars, I'm so insensitive. It's just that this is such a shock. And Thorne! Of all people! You thought you could trust him."

She straightened. "Wait. You don't think—"

"He was your best friend. I'll kill him. I hope he's locked away for life. Oh, Cress, I'm—"

"Stop." She held up both of her hands. "Stop talking."

His face shattered into despair. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm sure I'm saying everything wrong."

"You think—Kai, you don't think—Thorne didn't…take advantage of me." The horror of it was making her want to cry again.

His despair turned to confusion. "But you said—"

"Oh my stars, no! Thorne would never! That's not what I meant at all. I said he kissed me."

"That's all?"

"That's all? I'm telling you I cheated on you, even if it was by accident, and you don't think that's bad enough?"

"He kissed you and you said no?"

"Yes."

"Did he try anything else?"

"No! I told him he had no right and I loved you."

It took her a moment to realize what she'd said. Kai too looked like he was puzzling it over, trying to make sense of everything and reconcile it with what he'd thought had happened before. After a long silence, he reached for her hand. "You love me?"

She squirmed. "Yes. And I'm sorry about Thorne, I didn't want to kiss him and I know that this must hurt you on so many levels but I promise—"

"Cress, I love you too." He gave her hand a squeeze and this time she squeezed back, sinking her fingertips against his knuckles tightly. "Can we sit and talk? I had Nainsi prepare this meal for us and I'd hate for it to go to waste." He pulled her with him towards the table, never letting go of her hand.

"Who's Nainsi?"

"She's my housekeeper," he admitted sheepishly. "I know it's strange, but we always had maids at boarding school, so when I finished college I decided to splurge on one. I'm kind of a slob on my own. Plus, she's an amazing cook and I wanted to do something special for you since things were rough between us this week."

"I knew you couldn't cook," she said. Thorne and Cress had learned how to cook together as children when they were bored on rainy days. Now, cooking together was one of the things she liked the best about her Sunday dates with Thorne. Even as she thought it, she scolded herself silently.

First, she would need to stop thinking about Thorne and comparing him to Kai. Second, she would need to stop calling them dates. Not after what he had confessed to her. It wasn't appropriate anymore. Meetings seemed a bit too formal for the occasion. She settled on Sunday hangouts. That sounded okay. If they even happened anymore.

He held out her chair for her—the mark of a true gentleman. Not what Thorne would do. Thorne would just make her help herself and then plop next to her. Stop it, she told herself.

Kai poured wine for her, scooped food onto both of their plates as if he were in the serving business, and took a seat across from her in a princely manner. Then he folded his napkin perfectly on his lap and began cutting through the veal with expert precision. Nainsi had made veal.

"Have you seen Thorne since the wedding?" asked Kai quietly, after wiping his mouth with the napkin.

Cress attempted to mimic his behavior to make sure she didn't have remnants of food or drink on her face either. "No. He's texted me but I haven't responded. I…wanted to talk to you first." It wasn't exactly true, but it wasn't exactly a lie either. She just didn't know what to say to him. Talking it over with Kai would probably help her figure out how to tackle this situation in the best way.

"You sort of made Thorne sound like a helpless flirt. What are his, um, intentions with you?" He said it casually, but Cress got the impression that this was of high importance to him. "Or did he not say?"

She swallowed. "He wants to be my boyfriend."

"Ah."

"I told him I was with you, obviously," she added quickly.

"Have you and Thorne ever dated before?" He stabbed his fork into a glazed carrot and didn't look at her.

"No!"

"No need to be so defensive. I would understand, you know. There have been times when I compared your friendship with Thorne to mine with Cinder."

"In what way?"

"Well, because we dated before."

Cress nearly choked on her own carrot. When she had coughed a few times, she took a sip of wine and stared at Kai like she was seeing him for the first time. "I'm sorry, you dated Cinder? When were you going to tell me that?"

He just shrugged. "It didn't seem that important when we met."

"You're telling me you introduced me to your ex on our first date?"

He shrugged again. "It's not like we just broke up. We dated in college and ended on good terms. Now we're basically best friends. We talk about everything. Kind of like you and Thorne."

"Thorne is like my brother," she spluttered. Kind of, she added.

"A brother who wants to date you?"

"At least I haven't already dated him!"

"Wait." Kai put down his silverware and scrutinized her. "Are you mad that I dated Cinder?"

"No. Maybe. I don't know. I just don't understand why you didn't tell me before."

"It didn't seem relevant. Now that we're talking about you and Thorne, I thought it would be a good time to bring it up."

Cress thought about their first date at the market, and the way he'd so casually leaned against the counter of the mechanic's booth, smiling his charming smile at the girl with the wrench. She had really just thought they were protest buddies. "How long did you date Cinder?"

He sighed. "Does it matter?"

"Yes."

"About three years?" he guessed. The way he was shrugging again was starting to irritate her.

"Three years!"

"She was my first serious girlfriend, if you must know. I'm not a fan of talking about other girls in front of my current girlfriend. No guy is."

"Maybe she's still in love with you."

Kai laughed. "You're being paranoid, Cress. Cinder's not trying to kiss me or get together with me. Now let's get back to the point. Thorne is the one we need to be talking about."

Cress was so turned around now. She already didn't know how to feel about Thorne, but now she didn't know how to feel about Cinder on top of that. Was it really normal for a guy to keep a secret like that about an ex? She'd met Cinder five or six times by now. She'd never bothered to analyze the way they laughed and shared inside jokes. She had done the same things with Thorne. But now that Thorne had changed everything, would she be naïve to think that perhaps everything couldn't change between Cinder and Kai in a heartbeat too?

"Did he say he was in love with you?" Kai asked when she didn't respond.

"No."

"Well that's good, at least."

"Yeah," she said, but mostly because she didn't know what else to say.

"To be honest, I'm kind of pissed that he kissed you even though you were with me. It doesn't make me want to give him the benefit of the doubt." He frowned, but then the corner of his mouth twitched. "You are pretty irresistible, though. Not that that excuses anything."

She nodded. "That's the worst of it. Maybe if he would have just said something and I'd have the chance to rationally talk about it with him, then I could have set him straight from the beginning. But he just went for it."

"I see."

"He said that I liked him too. That I made it obvious from the night that we went on the double date with Kate. I told him he was crazy." That comment of Thorne's had bothered her quite a bit.

Kai leaned back in his chair. "Maybe not crazy, but reaching. His ego was probably bruised so he said whatever he could to make it feel like it was your fault. That was the night we danced while they made out in the corner, remember?"

"I know."

"Don't worry about it, then. Put some space between the two of you. Once it's cooled over, you should probably make some ground rules. Take it from my experience with Cinder."

Cress began to play with her hair nervously, twisting it around until some strands were wrapped around her finger. "What kind of ground rules?"

"Well, when we stopped dating initially, we kept falling back into…old patterns, let's say. We had to establish rules so that we wouldn't be tempted. No meetings in the dark, only meeting in public places, things like that. We also made sure not to talk about anything really deep or personal for a while until we'd both adjusted to the fact that we weren't going to be together anymore."

"But Thorne and I didn't date."

"Cress, it's still a similar situation. You and Thorne are incredibly close, and now there's sexual tension between the two of you."

"Not on my side!"

"Cress. If I'm going to be okay with you seeing him, then I need you to set some boundaries. Thorne has to understand that you're my girlfriend, not his. He can't just do whatever he wants and get away with it."

"Okay," she whispered. She didn't tell him that she had no idea how to go about setting boundaries with someone she had known her whole life.

"It won't be for forever," he added. "Cinder and I are super close now. It'll just take some time for him to understand your new friendship dynamic."

Cress tried to smile and started eating again, hoping to change topics quickly. Her confession to Kai could have gone much, much worse. But now that it was over, she had to face the consequences of telling him, just like Thorne had to face the consequences of kissing her. Of course Kai would want her to set boundaries. She would want the same thing if the situations were reversed. She would not have been as reasonable about it as Kai had been.

But how would she face Thorne now? Her emotions jumbled again when she thought of seeing him and trying to tell him that they would no longer be able to have their Sunday hangouts or really any of their normal interactions. Watching movies together involved sitting together in the dark. In fact, everything they did on Sundays was about them being alone and relaxing in each other's presence to talk about whatever in the world they wanted. Kai was right; it was too intimate.

Where would she hang out with Thorne now? Would they meet at fast food chains to keep it casual? Would they just talk about their week like two acquaintances who were just starting to get to know each other? One thing was for sure: it would be horribly awkward between them.

Maybe Thorne really just did need to move on to the next person. Maybe Iko was right to want Cress to give him her number. Maybe if Thorne focused his romantic interests on someone else, then everything could go back to normal between them.