"miss schuyler-?" thomas and james had let her finish her breakfast in peace, but now that it was gone, she knew that she owed them an explanation. still, she hesitated before speaking.

"none of this can be shared. not for alexander's reputation, but for mine. understood?"

both men nodded and she relaxed a little bit.

"first of all, call me Lizzy. Next- next-" her voice broke and she silently cursed herself for being so emotional.

"alexander," she finally gasped. "i should have known."

she told them of the flirty letters she had found around the apartment, of alexander's distance, and, finally, of actually catching them in the act. when she described that, both men let out loud gasps. when she finally finished her tale, her cheeks were yet again covered with tears.

she didn't notice the glance shared between thomas and james before james finally knelt next to her and pulled her into his arms. neither of them spoke- thomas and james both realized that nothing they said or did could fix this, and what eliza really needed was to cry it out.

james held eliza until she finished crying, at which point thomas offered her a box of tissues, which she gratefully accepted. "i don't know where i'm going to go," she blubbered. "my dad is so far away and i can't go back to- to alexander's."

james hardly hesitated before he replied. "you could stay here with us..."

thomas let out a slightly strangled noise and james quickly backpedaled.

"i mean, if that's okay with you. you do t have to, of course."

eliza tilted her head, considering for a moment. she didn't know these men well, but here they were, offering her shelter. they had already given her so much, which gave her reason to trust them. and, aside from that, she couldn't help imagining alexander's face when he discovered that she was living with his worst rival.

a small smile graced her lips. "thank you," she whispered. "you're not as bad as alexander says."

she let out a small yawn as thomas smiled. "i'll take that as a compliment, miss- lizzy," he corrected himself. "now, you've had quite the ordeal... you should just relax today. we could watch a movie?"

james nodded encouragingly, and eliza nodded back.

"sounds beautiful."

[hello you beautiful lovely wonderful people. i wrote this chapter and chapter three at about two in the morning, so if there are errors, just let me know.]