It must be some form of magic, Gil mused as he carried two mugs of tea into the living room. There was simply no other explanation for how she could get the kid to do what the rest of them barely could.
"You use some form of magic." He lightly teased as he handed her one of the mugs. "Don't you?"
"To do what?" Sorcha queried as she took the mug with a grateful smile.
Gil nodded to the kid with his head in her lap.
"Get him to sleep."
"Well, I can't take all the credit for his passing out here." Her lips twitched. "It took a combination of bribery, manipulation, and his medication to finally accomplish it."
Gil hummed a laugh as he took a seat in his armchair.
"He's sleeping is all that matters."
Sorcha ran a hand over the kid's glossy hair. "He hasn't been sleeping since he got out of the hospital." A frown creased her brow. "He's stressed about next semester for some reason."
"Any idea why?"
"No." She shook her head. "He refuses to tell me."
Gil considered that as he sipped at his tea. One idea leapt out at him based on a conversation he had with the kid earlier that day.
"How many classes do you have together next semester?"
"One." She glanced at him. "We've got personality theory together." Sorcha went to lift her mug but stopped. "Wait, do you think us not having classes together is what is stressing him out?"
Gil took another sip of tea and shrugged.
"You two have pretty much had the same schedule since you started at Harvard."
With the exception of a few classes here and there, he amended as her gaze dropped to the man sleeping, blissfully unaware of their conversation. They both were majoring in psychology but Sorcha chose to add English with an emphasis on creative writing and analysis while Bright was drifting into forensic science with a foray into criminology.
Ambitious?
Nobody could deny that.
No more than any of them could deny how proud they were of them for chasing their education goals.
"Mal helped me plan my classes..." Sorcha lifted her gaze back to Gil's. "He's the one that suggested I take creative writing this semester so I could apply to the upper division writing program in fall."
"You know as well as I that Bright doesn't handle changes in routine well."
Or openly admit when he needs or wants something.
The kid didn't have a selfish bone in his body. He always put others ahead of himself. Something they all routinely chastised him for.
Especially her.
"No," Sorcha agreed with a small sigh. "And rather than admit how anxious being on his own is making him, he's burying his feelings, and pretending everything's fine. So typical of him."
Gil's lips curled around the rim of the mug he lifted to his lips.
"What are you going to do?"
"I'll change a few of my classes." Bright fidgeted so she took a moment to quiet him before continuing. "I'll move my english and comparative literature classes to fall and take criminology and his other psychology class with him."
That was the answer Gil expected.
And there'd be no changing her mind, he knew.
There hadn't been the handful of other times he tried to tell her she couldn't give up what she wanted or needed to do because it made Bright unhappy.
The only thing he could do was remind himself they were heading in the same direction. Working towards the same goal.
It didn't matter in the end how they got there.
Long as they got there.
He only hoped they'd get there together.
A/N: Hello, all! Hope this finds you well!
I just want to send a special thank you to Rookblonkorules for their lovely reviews!