"Why did you tell her?" Dean asked.

"I had to."

"Why?" he kept on asking. But it wasn't anger that filled his mind and fuelled that question. It was desperation. The whole world was breaking apart right now.

Seth has already regretted telling Renee about Cassie. But before he did, it seemed like a good idea to him, or at least a right thing to do. Even after he said it, he was glad that he did. Renee said it herself that it was better that way. Well, better that she knew about . . . her. But now Seth wasn't sure. What had he caused? "Did you two break up?"

"Renee," Seth called out her name as soon as he spotted her. He was waiting for this moment for long and right now he had the courage to say what became a burden to his mind. "You have a minute?"

"Sure, I can find a minute." She was evidently busy, looking through some papers that she had in her hands. But politely she stopped reading and started focusing on Seth. There was something urgent about his look. And even if there wasn't, she'd find time for him.

"Could you . . ." instead of saying what he wanted he pulled her aside. And then he dragged her even further away so that they'd have privacy.

"What, are you gonna tell me a secret?" she asked cheerfully. Seth's face was far less enthusiastic. This was a duty, not a pleasure, for him.

"Look, Renee, this is gonna be tough," he started. He hadn't planned the way he'd say it or the words he'd use to explain what was happening. Nevertheless, Seth still believed he had to tell her. If Dean wasn't gonna, then he would.

"Seth? Renee? What are you doing here, guys? Who are you hiding from?" Roman, mysteriously appearing out of nowhere, wondered.

"Just chatting," Seth replied. If he told Roman what he was about to do, he might have never gotten to do it. Roman's opinion on this situation might have been different; and it probably was. "Could you leave us alone?" Seth asked very nicely so that Roman wouldn't find it suspicious.

Too late. "I don't know, Seth. I feel I should check up on you two. You know, for Dean's sake."

Renee smiled. "Don't worry, Ro. If it gets too intimate, Dean will be here in an instant. Even if he was on the other side of the world."

Seth and Roman looked at each other. "True that," laughed Seth.

"But I'll stay around, " Roman, maybe not totally convinced, or maybe just having fun, added, "just in case."

As soon as he was out of sight, Seth returned to the serious look that dominated his face before.

"This is not something personal, is it?" Renee asked, expecting a negative answer.

"It is. But not in a you-should-break-up-with-Dean kind of way. Although . . ." Each second Seth's confidence was fading more and more and he realized that if he didn't say what he had on his heart right away, he might change his decision and don't say it at all.

"Now I'm worried."

"I am, too. That's why I'm telling you."

"What has he done?" That was what came first to Renee's mind. Dean had to do something bad.

Why now, one may ask. Seth has known about Cassie long enough to tell Renee this information earlier, but he stayed quiet. Until now. So why to change it out of a sudden? It wasn't because Dean pissed him off; that happens at least twice a week. In reality, Seth stopped believing Dean's story that Cassie was nothing more than his friend. Seth never absolutely believed that in first place, he had his suspicions. But yesterday he found a reason a worry. Immediately he started to question both Dean's honesty and faithfulness to Renee. And she, as his girlfriend, had the right to know and put an end to the era of Cassie.

"Dean's . . ." Words were getting stuck in his throat. This was harder that he thought it would be. "He's lying to you." Renee didn't seem surprised. Not even worried. That found Seth strange. He gave her a few seconds to absorb this information. But the expression that he looked for he never found. Maybe it was because she knew her boyfriend better than Seth thought. It wasn't unusual of Dean to lie, so why should that information surprise her?

"That's why you dragged me to this dark corner?"

"Fine." It was time to change strategy. Be more honest and more precise. Tell the truth and don't sugarcoat it. "Dean's still in contact with Cassie. They hang out, talk on the phone, he visits her each time he goes home . . ."

"Wait, wait, wait! Who?"

"Cassie? Cassandra, Cassidy . . . I don't know her full name."

"Who's that?" asked Renee. Still not alarmed. There was no reason to be.

"Dean's ex-girlfriend?" Seth's voice raised into a question, reflecting his bewilderment over Renee's forgetting about her mortal enemy. But maybe it was only Seth who perceived her that way.

"So . . ." Now she was confused. She didn't pay much attention at the beginning of Seth's confession and it was a mistake. Now she didn't know what was going on. "What about her?" But to Seth's joy, Renee was starting to get the urgency of the situation.

Then Seth started to speak. He told her about everything. Everything he knew about. Well, almost. There were things that he skipped because, after all, Dean was still his friend, and so was Renee. Maybe she looked strong, and she surely was, but even in the strongest body can be a weak soul. Besides, although Seth was aware that the actions he was undertaking would very likely jeopardize his friends' relationship, he still wanted it to survive. It probably didn't look like that, but Seth believed that Dean and Renee were good together and that their relationship may have a successful ending. So his strategy was to present facts; not to say something that may be true but he had no evidence for. And in the end, Seth wanted Renee to make the final evaluation; to have the chance to decide how to handle the situation and what steps to take in result of the news.

"Dean! Did she break up with you?"

"What?!" Dean regained the strength and full consciousness. Now there was anger. Anger at himself, his friend, and the whole world. "You suddenly care?"

"I always have."

"That's why you told her I'm cheating on her?"

"I've never said that. Dean, listen to me now." Seth tried to make Dean look at him. But when he succeeded, he realized it'd be better to never see those eyes. Eyes of an endangered one. But it was an endangered animal, a lion perhaps, a strong one that'd fight for its existence. Fight till the very end. After all, you fight best when you have nothing to lose. "I had to tell her. I said I would, remember?" He was right; but it was so long ago that Dean'd forgotten about it. But it didn't change anything. It didn't entitle him to do this criminal act.

"I don't care what you said. Words are words . . . they cannot be trusted. But what I care about is your fucking actions. Unjustified actions. What the fuck you think gives you the right to interfere in my relationship?"

"That picture. Or pictures. I could have believed you had no intentions in having sex with her, but what I saw proved I'd be wrong if I thought that."

"What pictures?" Dean didn't understand.

"The ones that you keep in your phone. The ones where she's wearing nothing but lingerie. And then the ones where she's wearing nothing at all," answered his question Seth.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. You're going crazy or what?"

"Lend me your phone," Seth insisted. He wasn't making this up. Those pictured existed; Seth saw them yesterday when he borrowed Dean's phone to check his emails; and if Dean didn't suddenly erase them, they were still there.

At first Dean hesitated. He believed that there were no such pictures, but Seth seemed to be sure. Why would he lie? But in the end, Dean decided to give him the phone to find the evidence. And with sweat on his forehead, he watched Seth flicking threw the images. Dean was getting nervous; could those picture that Seth kept talking about be real?

"Aha, here," Seth triumphantly declared, and handed Dean his own phone. And yes, those pictures were real. And there were some where Cassie was totally naked. Dean had seen them before but definitely not lately. They were from times when she was still his girlfriend, therefore it was nothing scandalous. Unfortunately, Dean never deleted them. He should have, but what he remembered? No. It didn't matter to him then. Just because he had a chance to look at his ex-girlfriend, not to omit naked, every day didn't mean he did that. Dean was fully committed to his current relationship with Renee; maybe not the way most people were, but he was.

"That's an old photo," Dean countered, but Seth didn't give a fuck.

"So what?"

"We were still together when she sent me that."

"Doesn't change the fact that you still have it."

"I forgot to delete it."

"Maybe you didn't want to."

Dean didn't like how Seth was treating him. In his eyes, he was a liar, a cheater, a deceiver. Someone who doesn't deserve the chance to be listened to without prejudice. "Seth, if I said I slept with Cassie, you'd believe it. Immediately. Without question. But when I say I didn't, you think I'm lying."

"You never got rid of those pictures . . ." Seth kept rubbing that in his face.

"Fuck your pictures!" Dean smashed his phone into the floor. Neither of them looked at it, or at what remained of it. "I'm not cheating on Renee." Dean spoke slowly, with emphasis on each word. Then he realized something. He had to know. "Did you tell Renee about this?" His tone was a little more friendly than before. Maybe because of how critically he needed that information; and more importantly for it to be negative.

"No."

Dean sighed. Good. Now that'd be a disaster. Somehow knowing that Renee had no idea about the pictures that were now gone for good made Dean feel better, relaxed. Even the bitter hatred of Seth was disappearing. Well, there was nothing left to do, anyway. The damage was done. And hostility wouldn't solve anything.

Then Seth returned to the essential question. "So what did she say?"