"You can't tell her o-or Youssef!" I pleaded.

Charlie just stared at me with a vacant expression.

"I-I was scared of losing her and I didn't know what else to do. You have to understand—"

"Why did you never tell her?" He voice rose steadily. "When you were drafting and signing the bloody thing, why did you never tell her?"

"I didn't think she'd sign it if I did."

An edged laugh ripped out of his chest before he shot the rest of his drink and set the glass roughly down on the cart.

I watched as he took a few steps toward the kitchen, both hands raking through his hair.

"I know it's bad, but—"

"No!" He spun on his heel to face me just as his hands went flying into the air. "No there are no buts here, Tommy! You tricked her! You manipulated her into signing a legal bloody document!"

"I just wanted her to feel safe!"

"By tricking her!"

"I know!" I shouted, immediately feeling the fight drain out of me. "I know what I did was—I know what I did! And I swear I regretted it immediately once I'd done it! I-I think a part of me never really believed it would work."

"Then why did you never tell her?" He demanded again.

"Because it did work—we worked. Everything was so good—you saw how good it was! I-I didn't want to wreck it. I didn't want to hurt her!"

He shook his head. "That's a coward's answer. You had no right to do what you did. I can't believe you, Tommy! You, of all people, taking away a person's right to free choice!"

"I bloody know! I was going to tell her. I even picked a day to do it."

"Why didn't you?" He practically groaned.

It was my turn to laugh.

"Because that morning we got the phone call about Alice."

When I finally looked up at him, my cousin's face was full of pity.

"The bloody hell are you going to do now?" He whispered.

I shrugged helplessly and looked away. "Try to hold all the pieces together till she comes home?"

Charlie hesitated before asking the question we were both thinking: "And if she doesn't... come home?"

I picked up my forgotten glass and practically filled it to the rim. Neither of us said anything more.

That night, Charlie slept over on the couch.