- Alex...
At Goren's voice, and his entry into her room through the window, Eames rushed to him, threw herself into his arms.
- Bobby...
At the softness of his voice, and his embrace, Goren felt his heart break into a thousand pieces.
He was going to have to part with Alex, and the thought of it was unbearable.
Goren didn't want to leave her.
He wanted to stay close to her.
But if he didn't...
He'd pay dearly.
And he couldn't.
Not if his mother's illness got worse.
Reluctantly, he placed his hands on Alex's arms and gently pulled her away.
- I've got to talk to you.
From the seriousness in Goren's voice and face, Alex knew that Goren had come to tell him something serious.
Even before he spoke to her and gently pushed her aside, she should have known.
When she'd thrown herself into his arms, he'd stiffened, not wrapped his powerful arms around her to hold her close.
And he'd never done that.
- What's going on, Bobby.
Eames looked up at Goren with deep concern.
My God...
No.
Anything but that.
Don't look at me with that worry on your face.
Nor that anxiety in your big, beautiful hazel eyes.
The vision squeezed her heart.
In addition, how was he going to tell her he was leaving without hurting her.
The very idea of immense sadness painting itself on her face tore at her heart.
So maybe he could...
No, it wasn't envisagble.
And it wasn't a life for a fifteen-year-old girl.
He couldn't ask her to run away with him.
Had he been a well-to-do person, he would have offered.
And again, he couldn't have.
His conscience forbade him.
Even if his heart told him to.
But Goren couldn't take away everything she had.
With him, she wouldn't have a family, wouldn't see them.
She'd have to stop her studies, because he wouldn't be able to pay for them him.
And she'd be alone all day, so he could go to work and support provide for their needs them.
And ther again, if he could support provide for their needs them.
Given that life in New York was extremely expensive.
No, it wasn't a life for a girl her age.
He couldn't impose that on her.
So, reluctantly, he decided to do the right thing for her.
- Alex... He brought his hand to her cheek, caressed it with infinite tenderness. I have to leave.
He had to leave...
How that.
And for what reason.
No, it wasn't possible.
Goren couldn't do that.
He'd told her he loved her.
Then he could never leave her.
- If I could have taken you with me... I would…
The door to Alex's room opened with a bang, startling Alex and Goren, who turned their faces to see a red-faced Jonathan Eames, who had just stormed into his daughter's room, followed by his two half-awake sons.
- I forbid you to touch my daughter. Jonathan Eames screamed in fury, pointing his finger at Goren. Get your filthy hands off.
At his father's screams, Eames turned Goren's face away, looking at him in surprise, seeing Goren's facial features distorted and contracted by pain and anger.
Alex shuddered at the sight.
Never before had she seen such suffering mixed with deep anger on Goren's face.
She put her hand on his, which he still had on his cheek, and plunged her big hazel eyes into Goren's brown gaze.
- Bobby... What...
Good God...
How could he explain to him now, the reason why he had to leave.
With Eames' father and brothers in his room, Goren had no time for explanations.
Reluctantly, he let his hand drop, but kept Eames' hand in his, curling his fingers around hers, seeing total incomprehension in Eames' big hazel eyes.
- This isn't what I wanted... Alex.
Not what he wanted.
Eames didn't understand.
What was happening right now.
But she was sure, she felt, that what was happening would mark her for life.
- That's enough now, Goren... I you told...
Goren felt his anger multiply with grief at Eames' father's cries of rage.
Couldn't he at least let her say goodbye.
Instead of spitting all his hatred in his face.
In addition, Goren didn't want to leave Alex, not like this.
So even if he had to suffer the wrath of Alex's father, and his brothers, Goren took Alex's face in his hands, and took possession of her lips with all the sorrow he felt.
My God...
Alex felt that this kiss was nothing more than a farewell kiss.
He wasn't kissing her with his usual ardor, and she felt his grief.
- Bobby... You're not going to...
- Jimmy... Nathan... Flank me that outside the house.
Pardon.
Kick it out of the house...
Goren wasn't an object, he was a human being.
And why did he want to kick him out.
What had Goren done to receive such hatred and contempt from his father.
In addition, Alex had trouble hearing his father's words.
He couldn't just kick Goren out of his house a clean evil.
But when she saw her brothers advancing towards Goren, she realized that this was what was happening.
No.
This couldn't be happening.
Her brothers weren't going to do this.
Drive the man she loved from her home.
No, she had to react, intervene.
She couldn't let them.
- Alex... I'm sorry.
He pulled away from Alex, backed towards the window, took her little fingers in his, guarding them preciously, but who separating at the same time as Goren was moving away, under an Alex who was seriously beginning to realize what was happening.
She rushed towards him, and brought their fingers together, intertwining them in hers, squeezing them tightly.
- No Bobby... He nodded, a sad smile on his lips. Don't leave me.
Don't leave me...
My God...
No.
Anything but this.
Eames mustn't say those words, or he'd do the irreparable.
Kidnap her in front of her father, and her brothers.
But he couldn't.
For the sake of her future happiness, he had to leave.
Even if he knew he'd never recover from losing her.
- I have to Alex... He stepped over the window, to pull himself up onto the tree branch, but kept Alex's tiny fingers in his, refusing to let go. I loved you, Alex.
Heartbroken, he had to force himself to move his fingers away from Alex, and let them go.
He turned his back on her, and walked away, to begin the climb down the tree.
- No Bobby... Alex put his hands on the window sill, screamed all his distress. Don't leave me.
At her cries, Goren felt his heart being torn apart.
All he wanted was to go back to her and take her with him.
But he couldn't.
So, with a heavy heart, when his feet touched the ground, he pulled himself away from the tree, and ran like hell.
No...
It couldn't be.
Goren couldn't have done this.
He couldn't go and leave her there.
And yet...
He'd just done it.
- Finally a good thing done at last... Jimmy... Nathan... Let's get Goren's things out. His sons nodded. And send everything back to him. With his hand, he motioned for his sons to join him. Let's leave her alone... She'll have to recover.
The Eames brothers joined their fathers and left the room, Jimmy being the last to leave. He closed the door behind him, but stopped to look at his little sister, who stood there at the window, motionless, without any reaction...
And at the sight, his heart sank.
Alex was so young.
And she wasn't the type to fall love of the first guy she met.
He'd never seen her with a boyfriend in fifteen years.
Was she really going to get over Goren's departure.
Hadn't her father gone a bit too far.
And what would become of Goren.
Jimmy had never hated Goren.
On the contrary, he'd liked him a lot, like just about everyone else.
Goren was a simple man.
And Jimmy could see that there was something strong between his sister and Goren.
But even knowing that a romance was developing between his sister and Goren, he hadn't tried to stop it.
He had seen his little sister go into Goren's room.
And his naive little sister, did she really think no one would see her.
She'd forgotten that he wasn't a heavy sleeper, and that the slightest noise would wake him up.
And what a surprise it had been, when he opened her bedroom door, to see her little sister entering Goren's room in her nightdress.
Then her suspicions had been justified.
Jimmy had made no mistake.
There was something going on between them.
He could have gone to Goren's room, and stopped them, but no, he hadn't.
Because why shouldn't a twenty-year-old man love a girl five years younger than him.
Yes, Goren was an adult, and Alex a minor.
But they were only five years apart.
And when Alex came of age, that gap would be gone.
But now Goren was gone, and his sister...
He closed the door with a heavy heart.
His little sister was about to discover what real life was all about.
That fairy tales didn't exist.
And what it was like to have your heart broken.
Something he'd never wished for.
She was so young.
In addition, would she really recover.
Wouldn't Goren leave a gaping wound open in her heart that would never close.
In thinking of Goren...
My God.
It would be better if he took care of Goren's business.
For his father might well have decided, out of anger, that instead of sending them to him, he should throw them away.
So, not wasting a second, Jimmy rushed off in the direction of Goren's room, joining his father and brother who had already beaten him to it.
Still in shock at what had just happened, Eames did not hear the words his father had just said, nor that he had just left his room with his brothers.
What had just happened...
Eames didn't realize.
She didn't understand.
Everything had suddenly become a blur.
Goren had left.
No, this couldn't be.
She must have been having a nightmare, and she was about to wake up.
And yet...
Everything began to come back to her.
She felt tears welling up in her eyes, clouding her vision, her heart crushing, as if it had been ripped from her body and trampled underfoot, and a sharp pain in her brain.
In pain, she raised her hands to her skull and screamed.
- No... Her tears spilled down her cheeks. You can't leave without me.
At her screams, the door to her room opened to reveal Elizabeth, who, at the sight of her sister, rushed towards her in alarm.
Reaching her side, she lowered herself to his level, wrapped her arms around her waist and pulled her close.
- Alex... I'm here...
Beth was here...
Yes, she was there.
But Goren...
He was gone.
He'd abandoned her.
She clutched the top of her sister's pyjamas and buried her face in them.
She burst into tears, sobbing and screaming all her grief.
- Bobby... She raised her tear-drenched face to her big sister's. He's gone.
At her words, interspersed with her sister's tears and distress, Beth felt her heart break into a million pieces.
Elizabeth had heard everything from her room.
Her father shouting for her brothers to kick Goren out.
Which she'd thought was fine, at first.
But then she'd heard Goren's words to his sister.
And she'd realized she'd been wrong about him.
She'd heard the sincerity of his love for his little sister.
And now that it was too late, she regretted having misjudged him, and having behaved so badly towards him.
And now her darling little sister was unhappy.
And Beth felt powerless.
There was nothing she could do.
She couldn't make things right between her and Goren.
She couldn't tell him she trusted him with her little sister.
Or even apologize for her behavior towards him.
The only thing she could do right now was support her sister in her distress.
So, gently, she held her little sister close to her, cradling her.
- I'm sorry... Alex.