There was a knock on the door, and Danielle immediately assumed it was Chris, who was checking in on them to see whether they were both still alive. When he opened the door, however, Chris had a rather grim expression on his face. "We've got a problem. And by we, I mean you guys."

Just then, Hunt's phone rang. He took it out of his pocket and Danielle could catch a glimpse of his screen just long enough to see the caller ID – Priya Singh. Uh-oh. That could not be good news.

Hunt told her to stay quiet and picked up. Danielle couldn't hear exactly what was said, but she was pretty sure she could make out the words disgusting and bastard.

Priya hadn't called his personal number in several years, and the fact that she was calling now could only mean one thing: something horrible had happened, and Thomas was certain he knew what. Very reluctantly, he picked up the phone, and was immediately greeted by a slew of insults.

"Thomas, you disgusting bastard. Have you lost your bloody mind? You can't be that stupid, you—"

"Priya," he interrupted her, not willing to subject himself to this much longer. "Could you perhaps tell me why you are insulting me this time?"

As if he didn't already know. It must have leaked. Chris coming in, telling them they had a problem, and now this? The photos that he was sure must have been taken of their kiss earlier that day were out there now. He knew they were.

And, still, when Priya confirmed just that, he was shocked. "You have to ask? You're fucking a student, Thomas."

"Former student, first of all," Thomas said, then quickly added, "And I'm not fucking anyone."

"Oh, sure you aren't. How long has this been going on? Centaurus Lost? Earlier, even? The photo from Sundance? She's a child, Thomas!"

Danielle must have heard that last sentence, which wasn't surprising since Priya had practically shouted it, and chimed in. "I'm twenty-six, thank you very much. Most definitely not a child." Thomas glared at her, which had the desired effect of her shutting her mouth. She was not helping the situation.

"She's with you right now?! Are you- oh, God, I hope you're wearing clothes. Please tell me you're not-"

This time, it wasn't Danielle who said something, but Chris, who very unhelpfully said, "Nope, I'm here, too. Nothing shady going on."

Thomas sighed and put the phone on speaker. If everyone was going to join the conversation, either way, he might as well.

"Oh, great, the other boyfriend's here, too," Priya groaned.

"Hey!" Danielle exclaimed. "Neither of them is my boyfriend, okay? Now, can someone please tell us what exactly we're dealing with here?"

"Does nobody here have Google alerts for their name set up? Check TMZ, or any other gossip site for that matter," Priya said exasperatedly. "Thomas, I've called a board meeting to see what we're going to do about this. Expect an invitation to an official hearing soon."

Thomas gasped. He knew she was far from a friend these days, but he would not have expected her to be so quick to judge. "Priya, nothing happened when she was a student. This is none of your—"

"I'll be in touch," she interrupted him, then promptly hung up.

Thomas buried his head in his hands and let out a long sigh. His life, his career, everything was over. And it was all because he couldn't keep his feelings in check. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

He knew, logically, it wasn't Danielle's fault. He knew he shouldn't be mad at her – and he wasn't, he was mad at everything right now – but despite all the talking, and the mutual understanding that they would handle this together, the reality of it was a different beast entirely.

"Thomas?" she ventured, lightly touching his arm. He flinched, and she immediately pulled her hand away.

He took a deep breath, then told her, as calmly as he could, "I'm sorry, I need- I need some time. Please, I-"

Danielle looked quite unhappy with that answer, but she nodded. "I understand. It's okay, I'll… I'll be just across the hall in case you need to find me."