“How were things left between you and Alex?” asked Seb finally. “What was said at the end?”

I gave a short laugh, swiping at my eyes. They seemed to be leaking again. “A lot of things that hopefully weren’t meant.” Because Alex couldn’t seriously expect me to shun Seb’s company, could he? The only other half-angel I knew?

Seb sat silently, studying my face. “Willow...would it be easier for you if I leave?”

I went very still. No – please, please, no. “Leave?” I echoed.

“It’s me being here in the house that’s making things so bad, yes?” He stroked a tear from my cheek with a finger that couldn’t have been gentler. “I don’t want you to cry any more, querida, you see?”

Even through my mental turbulence, I could sense Seb’s mixed emotions: how much he hated seeing me unhappy, versus what he hoped could happen between the two of us. Remembering Alex’s words, and the look that had been on Seb’s face just that afternoon, my chest clenched. Oh god, I didn’t want Seb to be in love with me. I didn’t want him to be unhappy because of me, ever, not in any way.

“It doesn’t matter what’s easiest for me,” I choked out. “What matters is – I don’t want to be unfair to you, Seb. I can’t ask you to stay just because I want you here. Not when I don’t...” I trailed off. It was the first time I’d told him, however indirectly, that I knew how he felt about me. It was practically the first time I’d really admitted it to myself.

He knew what I meant. He always did. “You’re not being unfair,” he said, his voice level. “You’ve been honest with me from the start. I know that you’re in love with Alex. And I—” He touched my hair; I saw his throat move. “I love you in all the ways there are to love someone,” he said finally. “That includes as a friend and brother. If you want me here, then I’ll stay. I just don’t want to make things harder for you.”

“I love you too,” I whispered. “As a friend, I—” My throat closed; I couldn’t finish. It all seemed so hopeless – Seb being in love with me when I only loved him as a friend; the argument with Alex that was still pounding at my skull. Oh god, what if we really had broken up?