They sat at the table as they ate.
“I’m sorry about the truck,” Jem said.“We’ll get it back.”
Tean shook his head, but what he said was “I feel like such an idiot.”
“You’re not an idiot.You’re a kind person.I’man idiot; I’m the one who fell for the I-stepped-on-glass bit.”
“I should have said no from the beginning.I should have taken him inside to Lucy.”
“Tean, you saw him: he was waiting for a chance to run.We were just an excuse.”
Tean made a noncommittal noise, and they ate in silence.Jem took the opportunity to sneak some cheese under the table to Scipio, who immediately gave him away by thumping his tail in excitement.Tean, however, didn’t seem to notice.
Finally, the doc said, “He damaged one of the sprinkler heads in his room.That’s how he set off the alarm.”
“Okay, that proves my point: he was looking for an opportunity.We were just the dumbasses who gave it to him.”
“But I should have done something!Jem, if anything happens to him, it’s my fault.”
“It’s not your fault.He ran away from home, Tean.He ran away from his parents.What do you think would have happened if you’d made him go back to Lucy?Unless she nailed the windows shut, that boy would have been out on the street by the end of the day.At least now we know he has a jacket and a vehicle, which means he’s warm and he’s got a place to sleep.That’s better than he was doing before.”
Tean sighed and shook his head.
“I know you want to beat yourself up and feel bad about this, but can you save it for the next time you bully me about reading?”
“I don’t bully you!”But Tean cut off when he caught the smile on Jem’s face.“You haven’tbeen doing your twenty minutes, though.Don’t think I haven’t noticed.”
“He thinks he’s going to track this guy down and kill him.”
Tean tore a piece of crust from his grilled cheese.He’d eaten a grand total of two bites of his sandwich, and although he’d drunk most of the soup, that was basically just water and salt.“I don’t understand.Daniel was always—he was always so quiet.God, he could be in the room and you’d barely notice he was there.Now he’s acting like a lunatic.”
“Of course he is,” Jem said.When Tean glanced at him, eyebrows drawn together, Jem said, “He was in love with Brennon.His whole world just fell apart.”
Tean frowned.“Okay, I guess hethinkshe was in love with him.”
“No, he was in love with him.”
“He was fifteen.”
“Yeah?”
Tean seemed to struggle with the words before saying, “Jem, he was a victim.”
“I know.I’m not saying what Brennon did was okay.But that also doesn’t mean it wasn’t real—at least, for Daniel.”
More seconds passed.Tean’s face showed some sort of silent struggle.
Finally, with a laugh, Jem said, “Just say it.”
“I don’t know.I mean—do you really think he loved Brennon?”
“Didn’t you see how he looked when he talked about him?”When Tean didn’t answer, Jem said, “Yeah, I think he loved him.I think he wasinlove with him.”
Tean took longer to say, “He’s a teenager.”
“Teenagers fall in love all the time.Multiple times a day.Don’t you remember what it was like to be a teenager?You’re horny all the time, every guy you look at is hot or cute or has something that makes him interesting, everything feels like a ten?”
“That’s not really what being a teenager was like for me.”