From the looks of things, I’d caught him as he was getting ready for bed. For a start, he smelled like apricots, like he’d just gotten out of the shower, and his hair was messy and standing up at odd angles. Instead of his usual casually preppy style, he’d thrown on sweatpants and a wrinkled, baggy white tank top that showed off his bare arms. He looked, in the weirdest way, sweet. Cuddly, even.

Until he spoke in a clipped, no-nonsense tone. “Where is he?”

“Down the hall, come on.”

He glued himself to my side as we skirted around the living room, weaving in and out of small groups of chatting, drinking people, guided by the soft blue glow emanating from the television.

“Thanks for coming,” I said. “I know you have swimming in the morning, but I—”

“Hey,” Brougham cut me off, grabbing my lower arm. I stopped and faced him straight-on, and he took a step toward me, deathly serious. “It’s Finn. If something happened to him and I found out you hadn’t called me? I would hate you until the day you died, then I’d crash your funeral and tell everyone how much you sucked. And if I died first? I’d haunt you until you wished you’d gone before me.”

I wrenched my arm away from his. So much for gratitude. “If you go anywhere near my funeral, I swear to god you won’t have known the meaning of haunting before then.”

Brougham shrugged. “No worries, we’ve avoided all that messiness because you had the sense to call me when you did. Aren’t you glad?”

“Ecstatic.”

Ray and Brooke jumped apart when I opened the door. Because of course Ray had darted in to fill in for me the moment I left the room. I didn’t want to know, so I didn’t think about it, didn’t think about them making out while their friend was sick and in need of help and support, lying only feet away from them, possibly still licking the rug with zero intervention. Didn’t think about how shitty that was, and how Brooke would never have done anything like that before Ray, and how Ray made everything, and everyone, worse, because she was a liar and selfish and did cruel things to people she was supposed to love.

Didn’t think of it at all.

My self-control was really improving these days, I was so proud of myself.

“You’re an absolute numpty,” Brougham said in a fond voice, crouching down in front of Finn so they were face-to-face.

“I want it to stop. Make it stop?”

“You’re stuck riding it out now, mate.” Brougham hooked his hands under Finn’s arms and hoisted him easily to his feet. “Can you walk? You okay?”

“Yeah, I … yeah.”