THORNE

The light on the top of the Kesley-Benoit front door shone directly on Thorne's face. He tugged the hood of his sweatshirt over his forehead just a bit more while he squirmed under Scarlet's fierce scrutiny.

"Are you on drugs?" she said.

"Scarlet," said Thorne, rocking on his heels. "What do you take me for?"

"Look at him," said Scarlet, finally taking her eyes off of him and looking to Kai for confirmation.

Kai glanced sideways at him. "Thorne's going through a bit of a…rough patch."

"Me?" said Thorne. "We're here for you."

Scarlet looked between them. "Am I to understand that you two are friends again?"

"Never weren't," said Kai.

"Thick as thieves," added Thorne. Though his voice was casual, he was dying to get inside and re-inspect his appearance. Sure, he'd thrown on the first thing he could find, and had known his hair had no salvaging after more than two days without washing it, but really, could he look as bad as Scarlet was making it seem?

"Z!" called Scarlet. "We have company."

Kesley's giant form appeared behind Scarlet, though Thorne couldn't make out his face from the intensity of the light.

"Hey guys," said Kesley. "Come on in."

Scarlet's curls whipped as she turned to Kesley. "It's 8:00 P.M. and both Kai and Thorne show up at our residence, one of them looking like he's had a mental breakdown, and you're unconcerned?"

Thorne thought that Kesley had shrugged, but either way, Scarlet stepped aside and finally ushered them in.

"Thanks," said Kai. "We won't be long."

"Yeah we will," said Thorne. He stepped into their hallway but changed his mind about the mirror. Instead, he walked straight to their living room, where he let himself collapse onto their couch. He had already exerted way too much energy just driving over here.

Energy. Food.

Yes, he probably just needed some food. When was the last time he had eaten, anyway? "Got any leftovers, Scarlet?" he called.

Kai groaned. "Don't."

"Scarlet likes feeding me," he muttered, slipping the hood over his eyes completely. Ah, the familiar darkness. He felt better already.

"Guys." Scarlet's voice. "You know we love having you over, and you're welcome whenever you want, but I must say my curiosity is peaked with both of you just showing up like this."

"Well, it's somewhat of a long story," Kai mumbled.

"Kai didn't tell Cinder about Levana and she found out," Thorne offered. A gasp and the click of a tongue followed his statement. He rolled to his side and snuggled into the couch pillow.

Someone prodded his shoulder and he grunted. "What?"

"I thought you were snapping out of it," said Kai.

He had obviously snapped out of it already. Why else would he have offered to drive Kai all the way over here? Couldn't a man just relax a little without annoying questions and comments? "I'm tired and hungry."

"What's wrong with him?" said Scarlet.

"Cress dumped him," said Kai.

Thorne grunted again. "Technically, I dumped her."

Kesley's deep laugh filled the room. "Well, you have fun, Scarlet. Seems like you've got your work cut out for you."

"You're not going anywhere," she replied.

A huff and some shuffling, then footsteps faded out of the living room as others moved closer to him; they were probably sitting down. Though the idea had seemed a stroke of genius an hour ago—coming over here to get some girly advice from Scarlet for Kai—he now regretted having come in the first place. The last few days had been rough, sure—okay, maybe the last few weeks—but he was clearly already doing two hundred percent better than he had been before Kai had showed up. Now he would have to sit around in a group pow-wow and listen to Scarlet lecture Kai about his feelings. This kind of thing was boring. Feelings were the last thing that he needed to talk or think about at the moment.

"Funny," said Kesley. "I would have thought you'd be the one moping while Thorne tries to cheer you up."

"I am cheering him up," said Thorne. "It was my idea to bring him here to talk to Scarlet."

"It was," Kai confirmed. His voice sounded rather deflated to Thorne, though admittedly it could have been his hood blocking out some sound.

Scarlet's footsteps came back into the room, and something clinked against the coffee table. Scuffling and crunching followed.

"Thanks, Scarlet," said Kai, "these are delicious."

"I helped Scar make them," said Kesley.

Scarlet laughed as if addressing a child. "Of course you did, Z."

"They're great," said Kai. "Thorne, don't you want to see what Scarlet made?"

He did, actually, want to see very much what Scarlet had brought out for them, but he was too lazy to get up. "I'm learning what it's like to be blind," he said. "So why don't you just tell me?"

"Thorne," said Scarlet.

"Mm?"

"I know you're hungry. I brought out some leftover bruschetta." This made him turn and peek through his hood, mouth watering. Scarlet stood right over him, hands on her hips. "Sit up straight and I'll give you some."

He considered. The food was tempting, but he was so comfortable. Their couch was actually much more comfortable than his own, and after being in a bed for so long, it felt nice to have different furniture supporting his body. Maybe his next splurge would be on a fancy, reclining, L-style couch with an adjustable base for sleeping…

Someone tugged roughly at his arm. "Get up, you idiot, you're not a teenager anymore."

Thorne reluctantly sat, rubbing his arm, which was probably already bruising thanks to Kesley-the-bully. He shot him a dirty look before reaching for the bruschetta.

"So," said Scarlet, taking a seat next to Thorne, "start from the beginning."

Kai began talking, chronicling every moment of his relationship with Cinder from the very first day he'd met her at Thorne's house. He was slightly interested in hearing about some of the details of Cinder and Kai's relationship during the period when he and Kai hadn't been speaking, but Kai had a knack for analyzing and overthinking every part of every single step he'd ever taken, so he mostly tuned him out. Talk about draining.

Instead, Thorne thought more about the possibility of redecorating his place, considering the unique interior of Scarlet and Kesley's house. They had only recently moved in, having taken almost two years to build their own house. Kesley was skilled at working with wood and the design had been his own. While it wasn't a log cabin, the interior looked almost exactly like one. He worked on a lumbar yard on the side, which he had done even while he was in college.

Scarlet and Kesley were actually setting up an independent private investigator business, but they both still had to work in other fields until that took off. Thorne assumed that it wouldn't take too long, considering that Scarlet was excellent at tracking down clues and doing general detective work—sometimes he liked to point out that she was just a nosy person. Kesley, on the other hand, had killer instincts; maybe developed during the time he'd been involved in a gang or maybe just born that way. Either way, they were definitely a power couple together, and they balanced each other out well, despite each being decidely headstrong. He was glad that he was on their good side and could count them as friends.

He ate more bruschetta and excused himself to get a beer. When he brought it back though, Kai snatched it away from him. "Oh no, you've definitely had enough."

"Says who?"

"Says your room and—" he pointed up and down at Thorne "—your current state of being. Plus, you're driving me home after this."

Thorne lost it. "What is wrong with everyone? Why is it such a big deal that I look like this? I dress impeccably well every other day of my life so you'd think that the one day I choose to dress down, you'd all cut me some slack. Maybe I just enjoy being comfortable. I have no one important to see tonight." The three of them exchanged pointed glances. "Obviously, I don't mean you three," he muttered.

Scarlet cleared her throat and stared at Kesley until he finally sighed. "Thorne, no one cares that you're not dressed up. But as you mentioned—"

"—we never see you like this. Ever," finished Scarlet.

"Ever," echoed Kai. "You should have seen him when I got to his house."

"Okay, I got it. We are not here for me, though, we're here for Kai. I am going to be fine." More glances exchanged at his expense. "I will be."

"Oh, sweetie." Scarlet patted his knee.

He smirked. "You wish I was your sweetie. Unfortunately not everyone can have that privilege."

"Thorne pretended he was cheating on Cress because she told him she loved him," said Kai.

Glaring at his best friend, Thorne leaned back into the couch. "Way to lay it out all on the table there, buddy."

"Just returning the favor."

Scarlet held up her hands. "Let's be honest. Most boys are emotional idiots." Kai, Thorne, and Kesley did not look at her appreciatively, but she continued. "Of course, not everyone is, but you two definitely fall into that general rule. Most women at some point recognize this, but we tend to be idiots too, so we give you boys a bit too much credit anyway. There's always that one guy who breaks the emotional idiot rule and sets a great example for the rest of you. So, as women, we can get excited thinking that the boy we love will be an exception to that rule as well."

"I'm that guy, though," said Kai.

She gave him a very Scarlet-y look—the one that Thorne was usually on the receiving end of instead.

"Oh sure," she said. "Because that guy that we all hope for will lie to us about being engaged." Kai's face fell as Thorne snickered. He fell silent when Scarlet's steely gaze fell to him instead. "You should not be laughing. You should be ashamed of yourself."

"I am," he said quietly. He played with his tangled, greasy hair. "It just got out of hand."

"At least you recognize it."

"You're one to talk!" He huffed and gestured to Kesley. "Your boy was the one who almost got me expelled. He's done so many bad things in his life."

Kesley grimaced, but Scarlet scoffed. "No, you were stupid enough to involved with a shady gang. Z may have done bad things—he's another example of the rule of idiots I was talking about earlier—but it was your choice to get involved with them. You sought out the risk."

He couldn't really argue that. As he'd confessed to Cress, gambling had been a weakness of his for many years of his life. Some of the offers that Kesley's former gang had made to him back then had been too tempting for him to resist. But she was right; he could have walked away. He could have listened to Kai, who always tried to be the good little angel on one of his shoulders. Until now, when Kai was in just as deep as Thorne was. In fact, maybe even more, because Kai was actually in love with Cinder. And he was stuck with Levana—a thought that made Thorne shudder.

"Kai," said Scarlet, "you're in a crazy, tangled, mess of a thing. I remember when you entered into that strange arrangement with your family and Levana's family. We've all seen you suffer for it. I don't have any advice for you. All of us at some point have tried to get you out of that situation or encouraged you to date other people. You are going to have to come up with a grand plan to figure that one out."

"But if she would just hear me out—"

"What are you going to tell her?" asked Kesley. "Cinder, I'm engaged, but I still want you."

"It's—"

"—complicated," finished Thorne. "We know. You are complicated."

"I'm just trying to make this right."

Scarlet shook her head. "Women need assurance that they're the most important thing your life. Not some business deal."

Kai crossed his arms, eyes slits. "It's my family, Scarlet. I know your parents aren't around, so you might not get that, but—"

"Whoa," said Kesley abruptly. "You think just because Scarlet's parents are dead she doesn't understand what it means to have family?"

"He doesn't mean it," said Thorne, crunching loudly on another bruschetta—the last one, unfortunately—just as Kai, red-faced, mumbled "Sorry."

"He's just frustrated." Thorne wiped the remaining crumbs on his pants. "I don't have some business deal with Levana's family. I'm the most important thing in my life. Cress should have understood that."

"And he wonders why he's miserable," said Kai.

Scarlet said, "Thorne, your case is much simpler."

He snorted. "My case? This isn't one of your investigations, Scarlet."

"It doesn't need to be. Anyone can see that you've fallen in love with the girl and you're completely unable to handle your feelings."

An uncomfortable churning began in Thorne's stomach. He had just eaten too much food, obviously. He ignored it and waved a hand in the air. "Nah. I just feel really bad. Cress is a sweet girl and I treated her badly. I gotta work out a new strategy for the next one."

Kesley raised an eyebrow. "How long have you been broken up?"

"Four weeks, two days? Something like that." They all stared at him. "Yes?"

"And who have you been dating since then?"

He shrugged. "No one. Thought I needed a little break before I got in the game again. Don't want to make the same mistake." He snapped his fingers. "Kai, that's it. Let's just go out and have fun. You're single, I'm single. We just need new perspectives." He had been moping too long. How was he supposed to ever feel better if he just kept dwelling on the situation? That was what Kai did, not him.

Kai shook his head, though. "I don't want to meet anyone else. I want to work things out with Cinder."

Kesley clapped him on the shoulder. "Good for you."

"Did you at least try to apologize to Cress?" asked Scarlet.

"Of course, what do you think I am, an insensitive jerk?" The look Scarlet gave him made it painfully clear that Scarlet did, indeed, think that he was insensitive jerk worthy of all sorts of punishments. "She just yelled at me and now won't return my calls."

After he had brought flowers to her house that one day, he had tried calling her several times per day for a week and a half. But after a while, he just started feeling like a lovesick idiot, which was exactly what he wasn't. He was just trying to set the record straight. He wasn't a cheater, he never had been. He had been incredibly stupid and cruel to make her think that he would do that to her, and he should have handled the situation differently. Scarlet, Kesley, and Kai did not need to know all the details. They would just think he was weak, running after her like that.

"I saw you two together," she continued. "We all did." Kesley and Kai nodded. "She definitely likes you a lot. I bet Cress wouldn't be so mad if she didn't still care about you. But you have to do something before she completely moves on."

"Look," said Thorne. "I appreciate what you're trying to do, but can we please focus on Kai? Remember? The reason why we're here?" Kai was surprisingly holding himself together fairly well. It wasn't that Thorne had expected him to cry or anything—not even Kai went that far with some of his drama, but he had thought he'd at least be more of a wreck. Thorne tried to give him an encouraging smile. "We'll come up with a plan. Don't worry, Kai."

"I think I should call Iko," said Kai. "She might have some ideas."

Thorne wiggled his eyebrows. "I could call Iko for you. Maybe she still has a thing for me."

"No," said Kai. "You are not doing anything right now."

Scarlet stood. Her lips pressed into a thin line, but despite the sternness in her voice, she was clearly trying to be gentle. "Kai, I didn't want to say this earlier, but I'm just going to put it out there." She hesitated, glanced at Kesley for support, and he nodded briskly. "You're not going to get Cinder back while you're still with Levana."

"You guys know I can't get out of that situation," he said defensively. "Cinder just needs to hear me out and she'll understand I didn't do anything to hurt her," he added, before standing up as well.

Thorne half-heartedly got out of the couch too and gazed longingly at it as they began to leave the living room. In his opinion, their trip to Scarlet and Kesley's had been a complete waste of time. Well, except for some of the new ideas he now had for his own place…