Текст книги "Rule"

Автор книги: Jay Crownover

Соавторы: Jay Crownover
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“You make me think everything will be okay.”

She turned her head to give me better access to her neck and rubbed her hands lightly up and down my spine.  “All we can do is try, Rule.  I’m willing as long as you are and I’m not delusional, I’ve known you a long time and know it isn’t always going to be easy and fun that things like pizza and a quiet night at home have the ability to send you into a tailspin but I’m here as long as you recognize what is happening and agree to try.”

I snickered a little against her damp skin which made her shiver.  “If freaking out means I get you to go down on me to get me to stop acting like an idiot I can’t promise to knock it off any time soon.”

She swore and swatted me on my ass.  I fell asleep with her wrapped up in my arms and her soft laughter in my ear.  The tunnel was long and dark and sometimes no matter how good my intentions were the walls tended to close in on me but if Shaw was willing to be my light at the end then there was no way I wasn’t going to try.

***

We were both quiet the next morning when we got up to go back to her car.  We stopped at the corner coffee shop for breakfast and neither one of us seemed overly eager to rehash the events of the night before.  After a solid night’s sleep and waking up to her peaceful and innocent face I had my head back on straight and was calling myself all kinds of fool for letting my usual hang-ups pull me in such a dark direction the night before.  Pizza and quiet time on the couch was nothing compared to all the heavy shit I now had rattling around in my brain after she made me come clean.  I was ashamed that she knew I had been trying to use her body to escape, to take something that was so different with her and on such another level and drag it down to where every other sexual encounter had begun and ended.  If Shaw hadn’t called me on my shit and just let me go it would have been the end for I us.  I knew it and I was pretty sure she knew it.  Allowing me to put her in a box with all the rest was something she wouldn’t stand for and I was eternally grateful.

It had warmed up just a tad from last night so the icy spots on the sidewalks were now mushy puddles of dirty slush.  We navigated around them while balancing hot coffee and trying to stay warm.  She had parked her car off the street a couple blocks over from the shop in one of the neighborhoods.  I was getting ready to ask her if she was alright, if everything was still cool between us but she came to a grinding halt and I almost ran into the back of her.  I swore softly as the hot coffee splashed over my hand.  “What the hell Shaw?”

She didn’t move and I had to jump back when her coffee slid out of a suddenly lifeless hand and clattered on the snowy ground.  She lifted a shaking hand to her mouth and before I could ask again what was wrong a pickup truck that was waiting to make a left hand turn moved and I caught sight of her car.

All the windows were smashed out, the headlights and been shattered; all four tires were on the metal rim on the ground the slashed rubber sitting lifelessly around them like tattered material.  The pristine black paint job was now marred with ugly red spray paint that had even uglier words blazed across the surface.  The hood had the word ‘whore’ in huge letters and along each side of the car from front to trunk were variations on the same thing.  It was bad and considering what kind of car she drove it was also going to be extremely costly to fix.

 I could see that she was shaking so I put an arm around her shoulder and tugged her to my chest.  At first she resisted, standing stone still, eyes locked on the senseless destruction but when I applied just a little more pressure she came willingly and I tucked her head up under my chin.

“We should probably call the cops.”

She shuddered against me and I felt her head move ‘no’ under against my throat.  “No.  What’s the point?  His dad will just cover for him again and make it all go away.  Besides it’s not like there is any proof he did it.”

I hated that she was probably right.  “Do you want me to take you to school?  I can get this taken care of for you while you’re there.”

“No.  I need to call the insurance company and have it towed somewhere.  Why can’t he just leave me alone?”

I ran a hand lightly from the crown of her head to the ends of her almost white hair.  “Because you’re kind of impossible to get over.”

She sighed against my neck and just let me hold her until she stopped shaking.  “I guess I need to go back to your place and get this taken care of.”

“Of course.”  I handed her what was left of my coffee and made sure I kept her tucked in close to my side on the way back to the Victorian.  We were both quiet, now for different reasons but I knew I needed to keep the rage that was practically choking me at bay until I got her somewhere safe and she felt secure.  Having something destroyed like that must have been a violation like I couldn’t imagine and even though Gabe had been quiet the last few weeks it was clear now he had no intention of letting go of his obsession with my girl.

When we got back inside she immediately started calling around getting things in place for an adjuster to check out the damage and have the car towed to a body shop.  She needed a rental in the meantime and wasted no time in setting that up as well.  After about an hour or two where I just watched her like a hawk all the adrenaline finally wore her out and she mentioned that she wanted to take a shower and lay down.  I sent her off to my room with gritted teeth and a kiss, hoping she couldn’t feel the fury that was burning in every cell of my body.

Nash came crawling in a few minutes after I heard the hot water turn on.  He looked a little worse for the wear but he had a shit eating grin on his face and his shirt was on inside out so I assumed the date had served its purpose.  He took one look at the way my jaw was clenched and the way I’m sure my eyes were flashing with platinum fire and asked,

“Bad night?”

“Bad morning.  Shaw’s car got trashed last night.”

“You think it was polo shirt?”

“Who else would do something like that to her?”

“I dunno one of your legions of one night stands that’s pissed off you’re off the market?  You both have some pretty heavy baggage floating around out there.”

I hadn’t even considered that I might be the cause of retaliation against her.  That just made me even angrier.  I inclined my head toward my bedroom.

“Can you keep an eye on her until I get back?  She seemed okay but I could tell she was pretty shaken up.”

“Where are you going?  I have to be at the shop at one.”

“I’ll be back before then.”

“Rule…”

“Just don’t Nash; it’s long past time for me to lose my shit.  This asshole is going to hear it from me that if he keeps messing with her that I’m going to annihilate him.”

“You’re asking for trouble and not in a good way.”

“I don’t care.  I’ll be back in a few just keep an eye on Shaw and if she asks where I am make something up.  She doesn’t need to worry about anything else today.”

He begrudgingly agreed but I could tell he was not stoked with what I was about to do.

I jumped in the truck and drove to the school.  I knew that Shaw had class the same time as Gabe on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays so when I found a place to park it only took a nod at one co-ed and a wink at another to find my way to the where all the political science classes were held.  It was cold outside and students were hurrying from building to building with their heads down so no one really paid any attention to me as I lurked around the building that I was sure Gabe would eventually come out of.  Fortunately for me I didn’t have to wait long and campus security had already passed my direction without so much as a pause because twenty minutes into my vigil the doors opened a group of dudes that looked like they had emptied out a J Crew store and topped it off with all off L.L Bean’s winter line came pouring out.  They were all laughing and talking about something and Davenport looked so self-satisfied I just wanted to knock his pearly whites down his throat.

I waited until the group dispersed and it was just Davenport by himself.  He pulled the collar of his Patagonia jacket up around his ears and pulled out his cell phone.  I pushed off the wall of the building I was leaning against and followed him silently until he reached the parking lot.  When he stopped by the Lexus I reached out and grabbed the back of his neck and shoved him forward so that his face was smashed against to freezing metal of the roof.  He let out a surprised sound and the bag with his books and computer in it clattered to the ground.  He struggled but I had a good grip and was fueled by a living fury so he didn’t have a chance.  I leaned forward so that my elbow ground painfully into the base of his neck and tightened my fingers until I felt his skin start to resist.

“You want to harass someone, scare someone, terrorize someone you might want to pick someone that doesn’t have a pissed off boyfriend waiting around the corner preppy boy.  This is the last time I’m going to tell you to leave Shaw the hell alone.  If you don’t that fancy Ken Doll face you seem so fond of is going to end up like hamburger.”  I gave him another shove so that the metal smacked unforgivingly against his cheek.  People were wandering around the parking lot and stopping to stare at us but I didn’t care.  “Are we clear?”

He grunted and got his hands under his chest so that he could lever himself off the side of the car.  I let him go and stepped back, hands hanging loose at my sides in case he decided he wanted to throw down right then and there.  He smoothed down the hair my rough handling had messed up and glared at me while working his jaw back and forth.

“We both know my father can keep me out of jail, what can yours do for you?  Change a tire, help you move?”  He laughed bitterly and spit out a mouthful of blood that narrowly missed the toe of my boot.  “You aren’t a match for me in the real world.  You can call yourself her boyfriend all you want but the fact of the matter is she simply isn’t allowed to walk away from me for someone like you.  That’s just bad precedent.”

I thought he was just spoiled and annoying but the more he talked the more I started to wonder about his sanity.  The guy talked like a lunatic.

“Dude go fuck someone else.  Shaw isn’t into you, she never will be and harassing her is just pissing everyone off.  If you think I’m scared of what your dad or anyone else can do to me if it means protecting her than you’re in for a shock and even if you manage to get me out of the way there is a whole group of people out there ready to take my place.  You aren’t going to get anywhere messing with her and if you ever touch her again I’m going to snap every single one of your fingers off and cram them down your throat.”

He scoffed at me and poked a finger in my chest.  He was lucky I didn’t knock him in the mouth.  “You’re so stupid, so uneducated and low class to think it has anything to do with sex.  I can get sex anywhere, you really think I let Shaw dangle her ass in front of me for six months and didn’t get some on the side?  Sex is irrelevant and if she’s giving it up to you I don’t want to go near her with a ten foot pole.  This is business and image; she can’t set a protocol that I’m replaceable with a tattooed punk that has nothing to offer.  I can’t have people remembering that.”

I grabbed the wrist of the hand that was poking me and shoved him back into the car.  “If you think sex with Shaw is irrelevant than you’re the one that is uneducated jackass.  Get over yourself, if I can prove that you had anything to do with her car we’re pressing charges.  If you keep harassing her we’ll keep going to court and eventually someone will notice your old man covering your ass.  I’m telling you this stops now or you can go to the hospital and I can spend some time in jail, got it?”

We stared each other down but by now there was a decent size crowd gathered around while we sized each other up.  I didn’t see the security guard until he was getting in between the two of us.  Before he could start asking questions I flipped Gabe off and headed back to the side street where I had parked the truck.  The guard called something after me and I heard Davenport’s raised voice but I didn’t stop until I was back in the truck and had the heater blaring.  I flexed my hands repeatedly on the steering wheel and took a few deep breaths to get myself back under control.  The last time I had felt this impotent amount of anger, this unfinished need to destroy something was when I had watched them put my brother in the ground.  I wanted to tear his perfectly tailored body apart seam by seam and watch him suffer.  Pushing him around and making him uncomfortable just wasn’t enough.  The darkness, the unpredictability that lurked inside me reared up again and wanted unbridled vengeance but I had to put it back in the box because I wasn’t going to make Shaw wrestle with it again so soon.

It took me a solid half hour before I felt like I was ready to go home and face her.  When I walked in the door Nash was playing one of the game units and screaming a mouthful of obscenities through the headset at whomever he was playing with.  He ripped the gear off and gave me a once over as I shut the door and climbed to his feet.

“I don’t see any blood or gore.”

I shrugged and tossed my jacket on the back of the couch.  “Too many people around plus I think kicking his ass would only encourage him.  The guy has a whole tool box of screws loose.  It isn’t even about Shaw it’s all about how it looks that she dumped him and is hanging out with me.  His ego is out of this world I seriously don’t know what we’re going to do about it because he’s right about his dad being able to cover for him, he already proved it once.”

Nash jerked his head in the direction of my room.  “She hasn’t made a sound.  She never surfaced after the shower so I don’t know how she’s doing, but I have to go or I’m going to be late for my appointment and I still need to tweak the drawing a little.”

“It’s cool I got her.  Maybe she was just so stressed out she slept the whole time.”

“You could only be so lucky bro.”

I snorted and waved him off as I headed toward my room.  The door was closed and everything was dark when I pushed it open.  Shaw was curled up in the fetal position in the center of the bed and it didn’t take a genius to tell she was wide awake and had been crying.  She had her hands tucked up under her cheek and was staring sightlessly at the blank TV.

“What did you do to him?”  Her voice was raw and even more husky than normal from crying.  I sat on the edge of the bed reached out to run a hand over her thigh.

“I told him to back off and that it wasn’t smart to piss off someone that had me as a boyfriend.  I don’t know what his deal is Shaw, I think the dude is certifiable he just doesn’t relate on any kind of logical level.”

“I thought you were going to hurt him.”

“Well I might have but it was broad daylight and there was an entire college of students walking around.  I pushed him around a little and we tossed some crap at each other but I just mostly wanted him to know you aren’t alone, that if he hurts you there are plenty of people waiting in the wings to hurt him back.”

Silent tears ran down her face and I had to lean all the way over her prone form to wipe them away with my thumbs.

“I just want him to go away.  I never did anything to deserve this.  All I ever do is what everyone else wants why I am being punished for doing the one thing in life I want for myself.”

“I don’t know Casper, I just don’t know.”  I didn’t know how to make her feel better so I just scooted up on the bed behind her and gathered her up in my arms while she cried.  I didn’t consider myself an empathetic or even a compassionate guy.  I was usually so wrapped up in my own head and my own spiral of emotional nonsense to pay much attention to anyone else’s, but holding Shaw while she cried changed something in me on a fundamental level.  I felt like there was nothing on earth I wouldn’t do or wouldn’t give to make this better for her.  I felt like a failure for not stopping it from happening to her and I knew that from this point on keeping an eye on her and keeping her relatively safe from just Davenport wasn’t enough.  Suddenly with blinding clarity I knew that I wanted to keep her safe and protected from anything that was ever going to hurt her forever and ever and that just sucked because I had a sneaky suspicion that somewhere along the line I had probably been the cause of just as much distress as polo shirt was proving create and that just made me want to break things all over again.

Chapter 14

Shaw

“Are you sure you want to do this?”  Ayden sounded nervous and she wasn’t thrilled I had dragged her to Marked so early in the morning.  We were sitting in a little room at the shop I had never seen before even though I was spending more and more time at the shop waiting for Rule to get off or dropping him off dinner if he had to work late.  The room had clearly been decorated by a female, Cora’s funky sense of style was all over the place and it smelled a little less antiseptic than the rest of the shop.  I was sitting on a chair that looked an awful lot like the one you would find in a gynecologist’s office and nervously fidgeting with everything in sight.

“I’m sure.”

“I just don’t understand why you want to do something that’s going to hurt.”

“It’ll only hurt for a minute and I trust Cora.”  I did.  Whenever I was at the shop we inevitably ended up spending hours talking and had even taken our budding friendship out of the building.  When Rule or Rome were unable to pull ‘eyes on Shaw duty’ Cora didn’t seem to mind hanging out with me until one of my many watch dogs was free.  I really liked her and since the idea had taken root I was happy that having someone I knew and was comfortable with pierce me was the only way I was going to go through with it.  Cora had even agreed to come in when the shop was closed while Rule and Nash were at the gym so that I could keep it a surprise.

“I just want to make sure you’re doing it for you and not for Rule.  What if you guys break up and the next guy you date is all straight laced and proper?  Pierced nipples might not work for your next boyfriend.”

I gave her a bored look and tried to calm my nerves.  The truth was doing it had nothing to do with Rule.  I was back to feeling like I had no control over my life again.  The thing with my car and the way Gabe was still influencing my day to day life, the pressure from my parents about everything from my hair to Rule, the way Rule disappeared inside himself when I started to get too close it was all closing in on me and I needed something that was just for me.  I wanted this little something that was my choice, a decision to alter my body that no one else had any say in.  I was having migraines more frequently, three in the last two weeks and if I didn’t do something I was going to shatter apart in too many pieces to put back together.

“If I Rule and I break up you really think the next guy in my life is going to be all clean cut and preppy?”

“I don’t see why not.  You dated Gabe for six months and he’s about as opposite physically from Rule as one can get.  I bet pierced nipples would send him into cardiac arrest.”

“I’m never dating anyone just because I’m supposed to again, and I’m not planning on dating anyone besides Rule for the foreseeable future anyway so let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

The truth was things had been strained between Rule and I for the last week.  I didn’t know what it was but he was treating me like I was spun sugar and going to break apart at any moment.  When he didn’t think I was paying attention I would catch him staring at me with a confused look in his gaze like he was trying to figure out what I was still doing there, or why he was still around.  He was obsessively concerned about my safety and making sure I was never ever alone and even though we still spent every night together at alternating homes the time we spent in bed had morphed from passionate and out of control, to moments that felt tender and fleeting and while it was nice and hard to complain about it didn’t feel like him and it was starting to really concern me.  I didn’t know how to address it because it wasn’t like there was anything actually wrong, he was still emotionally present, still attentive and clearly willing to try like I asked him but something was off I just couldn’t put my finger on what it was.

“If your father finds out he really will make good on pulling his tuition check for next year.”

My dad had finally gotten tired of me ignoring his calls and had ambushed me at the apartment last weekend.   I had tried to explain the situation with the car, tried to make him understand about Gabe and his threats but none of it did any good.  All my dad was concerned about was how things looked for him and mom the requisite threat about tuition had been lobbied about but it held no weight with me.  I told him if he pulled my tuition I would gladly get a job as a striper to pay my way through med school and he hadn’t liked it one bit.  I knew the threat would only keep him off my case for a brief minute but for now that was all I needed if he wasn’t going to take my back against what was going on with Gabe.

I hadn’t seen hide nor hair of him but I don’t think Rule pushing him around had really sent him to ground.  Ayden mentioned she had heard some girls in one of her classes talking about me and from the sounds of it his new mission was to trash my reputation on campus with a series of foul lies and outrageous stories.  Luckily I was pretty immune to hearing awful stuff about myself from growing up in such a judgmental and hatful household or else I would have been freaking out even more and contemplating changing schools to just get away from it all.

“Yeah he would, good thing that’s not something he ever has any opportunity to see.”

Cora opened the door with a little metal tray in her hand that looked sterilized and smelled like hospital grade antiseptic.

“You ready?”

I swung my legs up and around so I was lying back in the chair and tried to control my rapid breathing.

“As I’ll ever be.”

“I’m fast so it’ll be over quick.  Just remember you have to keep them clean so for the first three to four weeks don’t play with or let you know who play with them even though he should know the rules by now.”

I laughed as she told me to strip out of my tight V-neck Henley and bra.  I shivered involuntarily at being so exposed but Cora was reassuring and even though I knew she wasn’t really into it Ayden held my hand and watched what was happening with rapt attention.

“First I gotta mark you to make sure they’re even and straight on both sides.”  It was weird to have someone even though that someone was a friend handle my body in such a way.  The tip of the marker was cold and it made me shiver but not nearly as much when she put the metal clamp on the first light pink tip.  Her two toned eyes stared into mine and I felt my nails dig into Ayden’s palm.  “Okay babe take a really deep breath and when I tell you let it out slow and even.  You’re going to feel a lot of pressure from the needle pressing through and then the jewelry being put in place just keep your eyes on me and keep breathing.”

I did what she said and after the initial pain that admittedly had a couple of surprised tears welling in my eyes it was just more uncomfortable than painful.  She repeated the process on the other side and just like that it was over and I was pierced.  She asked me if I wanted a mirror.  I took it and admired her handy work.

I had pretty nice breasts already, they weren’t huge or anything outrageous but they were firm and high and my nipples were always a nice, pretty pink.  The silver hoops were similar to the ones in Rule’s eyebrow and the one in his lip but the ball at the center of mine was a bright aquamarine globe.  They were sexy and feminine and I freaking loved the way it looked.  I took the aftercare instructions and climbed back into my clothes.  I felt the little piece of me that had been flailing over the last weeks lock back down and I smiled at Cora and gave her a hug.

“I love it.”

“You should.  It’s over the top hot.”

Ayden nodded as she pulled on her coat.  “I didn’t think it would suit you but I was wrong they look really girly and sexy.  I can see now why you wanted to get it done.”

Cora lifted her super blond eyebrows as I shoved money into her hands.  “I know you said you would do it for free but I want to pay you.”

She shook her head and tried to hand it back but I refused to take it.  “I would like to consider us friends now and I don’t take advantage of friends so please just take it.”

She frowned at me and moved around to pick up all her equipment.  “If you wanted a tattoo and Rule or Nash offered to do it for free would you let them?”

“Rule yes, Nash no.”

She sighed in defeat then.  “Well fine then.  Let me know what lover boy thinks, not that I think he’ll be able to hide his shit eating grin.  I swear his mood entirely revolves around how the two of you are going at it.”

I pulled my long hair out of the collar of my coat and tried not to wince as the movement caused my new addition to move uncomfortably against my bra.  “So how’s he been lately?”  I was curious but I also really wanted to know.

“Fine, more mellow and maybe more quiet than usual, but good.”

“Well that’s good I guess.”

“You don’t sound so sure about that.”

I shrugged not sure how to explain it.  “Rule has never really been a mellow guy.”

“No he hasn’t but maybe you just have given him a reason to be.  Maybe he’s happy and has everything he wants so there isn’t a reason to be all angsty and agro all the time anymore.”

I would have been thrilled if I thought she was right but I knew Rule and none of it sat right with how he was.  “Maybe.”

She gave me another hug, carful of my chest and ushered us out of the shop.  “Don’t get your panties all wadded up over it there is nothing wrong with mellow.”

“Thanks Cora.”

“Anytime now scram so I clean this up before regular business shows up and the guys have to get here and set up.”

Ayden gave me a searching look as we exited into the cold.  “How did you get the guard dogs to let you off the leash this morning?  Rules has a fit whenever you try and gallivant around without someone on your heels.”

“I told him I had a hair appointment and that you were going with me and wouldn’t let me out of your sight.  No guy wants to go spend an hour in a salon, especially a guy like Rule.”  She lifted her brows at me when we got to the  rental I was currently driving.

“So are we actually going to go get our hair done?”

Since I wasn’t a liar and hated being dishonest with him I had indeed made both of us an appointment to get the works done.  “We are, only it’s my treat this time because we have to make a stop first and it’s kinda out of the way.”

“Where at?”

I pulled out onto Colfax and headed to the highway in the direction of Brookside.

“Where are we going?”  I knew Ayden was curious but when I woke up this morning and Rule had been so cloyingly polite and kind there were two things that I knew I had to accomplish that day.  The first was done and the second, well I wasn’t sure but I felt like the second might end up being even more painful.

“I just need to swing by and see an old friend really quick.”

“In Brookside?”

“Just outside, let me just get through it first and then I’ll explain.”  I drove silently through the mountains until we got to the small cemetery on the outskirts of Evergreen listening to The Dawes play melancholy songs that fit my mood the entire way.  It looked more like a ranch than a cemetery and I had always thought it was so ironic that Remy was buried so far out of the city on such a quiet piece of land when he had been so buoyant and so full of energy and life.  I parked in the visitor’s lot and pulled on a pair of gloves and a hat because I wasn’t sure how long I was going to need and it was even colder up here at a higher elevation than it was in the city.

“I’ll leave the keys so you can run the heater and mess with the radio.  I’m not sure how long I’m going to be.”

Ayden’s amber gaze was liquid with sadness and understanding.  She gave me a quick one armed hug and shooed me off.  “I’ll be fine you take as long as you need.  You can spring for a hot stone massage if it takes you too long.”

“Deal.”  That’s why I loved this girl.

My boots crunched on the snow as I made my way to the back of the lot where the grave stone sat so cold and sterile, just one more shade of gray on the barren winter landscape.  There was a bright spray of red roses lying on top of the stark white plot and it made me smile.  Remy loved red, loved things that were vibrant and eye catching, anything that suited his personality.  Not caring that the ground was frozen and covered in snow I knelt down and traced his name with a gloved finger.  Tears immediately filled my eyes.  I moved my hand along to glide over the huge horseshoe both the surviving Archer boys had insisted go on their siblings headstone.  Turned upward it was said to keep all the good luck in, Rome liked the symbolism, Rule liked that it was a visual representation that tied the two of them together for eternity.

“Hey handsome.  I’m sorry it’s been so long since my last visit but things have been…intense.”  I laughed humorously.  “I have a feeling if you were here you would be laughing your ass off at everyone and shaking your head at all of us.  I miss you so much and every single day I think it would make things so much better if I could just call you, that you would make everything make sense and keep it all together.  Doing this is a million times harder without you.”  I was crying in earnest now and couldn’t really see the headstone clearly any more.  I flattened my palm over his name and concentrated on taking deep breaths in and out.  “I’m sleeping with your brother and if you thought I was a silly lovesick fool before you should see me now.  I’m freaking out because he’s being too nice.  I know, only I would worry about my boyfriend being too nice but we both know Rule and something is up he won’t talk to me about.  By the way how weird is it that I’m calling Rule my boyfriend?  My heart turns over every time I do it and sometimes I feel like my entire world is in his eyes and yet he still closes me out, still shuts down and makes it so very hard to just love him. If you were here I would make you pull it out of him and he would tell you because he always did.”  I sighed and let my head fall forward.  “I wish you had told them, Rule and Rome.  I wish you had trusted them enough to let them in like you did for me.  You’re mother has gone off her rocker because Rule still refuses to be your carbon copy and as a result your family is in tatters.  Maybe if everyone knew, if you had tried to let them know everyone deserves to be loved no matter how they choose to live their lives it wouldn’t be like this.  Your dad is coming around but still trying to keep Margot out of the loony bin and Rome, poor Rome is just a giant Ping-Pong ball trying to protect everybody and make everything okay but he has no help, he needs you to be the mediator like you always were.”