I’d hardly even known I was crying, but there seemed to be streaks of dampness on my cheeks. I wiped my face and swung my feet off the bed; as I started across the dorm, I scraped my hair back with both hands. It was probably standing up in wild, burning spikes, like a bunch of lit matches.

When I opened the door, Seb stood in the hallway with his hands tight in his jeans pockets, his brown curls tousled. His gaze scanned me worriedly. “Can I come in?”

Oh god, I am so glad to see you. Please, can you just hold me for a while, and let me turn into a blubbering mess on your shoulder? With an effort, I didn’t say it. I nodded and opened the door wider. As he stepped inside I hesitated, then closed it behind him. Regardless of what anyone might think, I needed privacy right now; what was going on between me and Alex was nobody else’s business.

We sat on my bed; I leaned against the wall. For a few minutes neither of us spoke, and it was such a relief – to be with someone who understood me so totally without words.

“So, this pretty much sucks,” I said at last.

Seb grimaced. “It’s because of me that you fought, isn’t it? You don’t have to answer,” he added dryly. “Everyone heard. Half of them could hardly wait to tell me about it.”

Great. I gripped my arms. “I can’t really blame him for being upset,” I said. “He’s just found out that—” I stopped. I’d never mentioned to Seb that I could sense him even when he wasn’t around. Heat swept my skin.

“Oh,” said Seb softly, picking up the thought from me. “That – can’t be easy for him, I guess.” His tone was neutral; I knew he didn’t like Alex much more than Alex liked him.

“Is it the same for you?” I asked after a pause. I felt shy suddenly. “With me, I mean?”

Seb nodded slowly. He was sitting on the bed with one foot on the floor, the other leg bent at the knee in front of him. “Even when I’m not thinking about you, you’re always in my head somehow.” He gave a small shrug. “With anyone else in the world, it would be too much. But with you, it just seems...natural.”

It was exactly how I felt. Oh god, I could see why Alex was so upset. What if he had this with Kara?

“I don’t know if it’s because we’re both half-angel, or—” Seb shook his head. “Perhaps it’s a mix,” he said. Though he’d left out a thought, I knew what he meant. Some of this had to be from being half-angel and psychic, but maybe it was enhanced by just – who we were. The closeness we shared.