I groan, clutching the pillow to my chest. I press my forehead to the soft cushion of it, squeezing my eyes shut. I've never had such a terrible headache.

"Juliette?" A tentative voice. "Are you okay?"

I lower the pillow. Blink up.

Warner is wearing a towel.

A towel.

I want to roll under the bed.

"Adam and James are coming here tomorrow," I say to him, all at once. I just say it, just like that.

Warner raises his eyebrows. "I didn't realize they'd received an invitation."

"Kenji is bringing them here. He's been sneaking out to go check on them, and now he's bringing them here. Tomorrow morning."

Warner's face is carefully neutral, his voice unaffected. He might be talking about the color of the walls. "I thought he wasn't interested in joining your resistance anymore."

For a moment I can't believe I'm still lying on the ground, clutching a pillow to my chest, staring at Warner who's wearing a towel and nothing else. I can't even take myself seriously.

"Kenji told Adam I'm still in love with him."

There it is.

A flash of anger. In and out. Warner's eyes spark and fade. He looks to the wall, silent a moment. "I see." His voice is quiet, controlled.

"He knew it was the only way to get Adam back here."

Warner says nothing.

"But I'm not, you know. In love with him." I'm surprised at how easily the words leave my lips, and even more surprised that I feel the need to say them out loud. That I'd need to reassure Warner, of all people. "I care about Adam," I say to him, "in the way that I'll always care about the few people who've shown me kindness in my life, but everything else is just . . . gone."

"I understand," he says.

I don't believe him.

"So what do you want to do?" I ask. "About tomorrow? And Adam?"

"What do you think should be done?"

I sigh. "I'm going to have to talk to him. I'll have to break up with him for the third time," I say, groaning again. "This is so stupid. So stupid."

I finally drop the pillow. Drop my arms to my sides.

But when I look up again, Warner is gone.

I sit up, alert. Glance around.

He's standing in the corner, putting on a pair of pants.

I try not to look at him as I climb back onto the bed.

I kick off my shoes and sink under the blankets, burrowing into the pillows until my head is buried beneath them. I feel the weight shift on the bed, and realize Warner must be sitting beside me. He plucks one of the pillows off my head. Leans in. Our noses are only inches apart.

"You don't love him at all?" Warner asks me.

My voice is being stupid. "Romantically?"

He nods.

"No."

"You're not attracted to him?"

"I'm attracted to you."

"I'm serious," he says.

"So am I."

Warner's still staring at me. He blinks, once.

"Don't you believe me?" I ask.

He looks away.

"Can't you tell?" I ask him. "Can't you feel it?"

And I am either losing my mind or Warner just blushed.

"You give me too much credit, love." His eyes are focused on the blanket, his words soft. "I will disappoint you. I am every bit the defective human being you don't think I am."

I sit up. Look at him closely. "You're so different," I whisper. "So different and exactly the same."

"What do you mean?"

"You're so gentle now. You're very . . . calm," I tell him. "Much more than you were before."

He says nothing for a long time. And then he stands up. His tone is curt when he says, "Yes, well, I'm sure you and Kishimoto will find a way to sort this situation out. Excuse me."

And then he leaves. Again.

I have no idea what to make of him anymore.

FORTY-ONE.

Adam is already here.

Warner was completely uninterested in dealing with Adam. So he's gone about his day and his duties, having skipped his morning workout.

And now I'm here.

I've just stepped out of the elevator, and the pinging sound that signals the opening of the doors has alerted everyone to my presence. Adam was standing in the corner, talking to James. He's now staring at me.

It's weird, how I feel when I look at him now. There is no extreme emotion in me. No excess of happiness or sadness. Not upset. Not overjoyed. His face is familiar to me; his body, familiar to me. His unsteady smile, as he looks at me, is familiar to me.

How strange that we can go from friends to inseparable to hateful then casual all in one lifetime.

"Hi," I say.

"Hey." He looks away.

"Hi, James." I smile.

"Hi!" He waves, buoyant. He's standing just next to Adam, eyes lit up, clearly thrilled to be back among us. "This place is so cool."

"It is," I agree. "Have you had a chance to take a shower yet? The water is warm here."

"Oh, right," he says, shyly now. "Kenji told me about that."

"Why don't you get washed up? Delalieu will be bringing lunch down soon. I'm sure Brendan can show you around the locker rooma"and where to put all your stuff. You can have your own locker," I tell him, glancing at Brendan as I do. He nods, taking the hint and jumping to his feet right away.

"Really?" James is saying. "That's so cool. So they just bring the food to you? And you get to shower whenever you want? Is there a curfew?"

"Yes, yes, and no," Brendan answers him. He takes James's hand. Grabs his little bag. "We can stay up as late as we like," he tells him. "Maybe after dinner I'll show you how to use the bicycles in here," he says, his voice fading to an echo as he and James disappear into the locker room.

Once James is gone, everyone seems to exhale.

I steel myself. Step forward.

"I'm really sorry," Adam says first, crossing the room to meet me. "You have no ideaa""

"Adam." I cut him off, anxious. Nervous. I have to say this and I have to say it now. "Kenji lied to you."

Adam stops. Stills.

"I haven't been crying over you," I say, wondering if it's even possible to deliver this kind of information without both humiliating him and breaking his heart. I feel like such a monster. "And I'm really, really happy you're here, but I don't think we should be together anymore."

"Oh," he says. Rocks back on his heels. Drops his eyes. Runs both hands through his hair. "Right."

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Kenji looking at me. He's waving his hand, trying to get my attention, but I'm still too mad at him right now. I don't want to talk to him until I've fixed this.

"Adam," I say. "I'm sorrya""

"No," he says, holding up a hand to stop me. He looks dazed, sort of. Strange. "It's okay. Really. I already knew you were going to say that to me." He laughs a little, but awkwardly. "I guess I thought knowing in advance would make it feel a lot less like I was being punched in the gut." He cringes. "But nope. Still hurts like hell." He backs up against the wall. Slides down to the floor.

He's not looking at me.

"How did you know?" I ask. "How did you know what I was going to say?"

"I told him before you got here," Kenji says, stepping forward. He shoots me a sharp look. "I came clean. I told him what we talked about yesterday. All the things you said."

"Then why is he still here?" I ask, stunned. I turn to face Adam. "I thought you said you never wanted to see me again."

"I never should've said that." Adam is still looking at the floor.

"So . . . you're okay?" I ask him. "With Warner?"

Adam looks up in disgust, so different in an instant. "Are you out of your mind? I want to put his head through a goddamn wall."

"Then why are you still here?" I ask again. "I don't understanda""

"Because I don't want to die," he says to me. "Because I've been racking my brain trying to figure out how to feed my little brother and I've come up with exactly jack and shit in the way of solutions. Because it's cold as hell outside, and he's hungry, and because our electricity is going to get shut off soon." Adam is breathing hard. "I didn't know what else to do. So now I'm here, my pride in the toilet, hoping I can stay in my ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend's bachelor pad, and I want to kill myself." He swallows. "And I can suffer through that," he says, "if it means James will be safe. But right now I'm still waiting for your shithead of a boyfriend to show up and try to kill me."

"He's not my boyfriend," I say quietly. "And he's not going to kill you. He doesn't even care that you're here."

Adam laughs out loud. "Bullshit," he says.

"I'm serious."

Adam gets to his feet. Studies my eyes. "You're telling me I can stay here, in his room, and eat his food, and he's just going to let me?" Adam's eyes are wide, incredulous. "You still don't understand this guy. He doesn't operate the way you think he does, Juliette. He doesn't think like a normal human being. He's a freaking sociopath. And you really are insane," he says, "if you think it's okay to be with someone like that."

I flinch, stung. "Be very careful how you speak to me, Adam. I won't tolerate your insults again."

"I can't even believe you," he says. "I can't believe you can stand there and treat me like this." His face is twisted into something so intensely unattractive.

Anger.

"I'm not trying to hurt youa""

"Maybe you should've remembered that before you ran into the arms of some psycho!"

"Calm your ass down, Kent." I hear Kenji's sharp warning from the corner of the room. "I thought you said you were going to be cool."

"I am being cool," he says, his voice rising, eyes on fire. "I'm a freaking saint. I don't know anyone else who would be as generous as I am right now." He looks back at me. "You were lying to me the whole time we were together. You were cheating on mea""

"No I wasn't."

"This kind of shit doesn't just happen overnight," he shouts. "You don't just fall out of love with someone like thata""

"We're done, Adam. I'm not doing this again. You're welcome to stay here," I tell him. "Especially for James's sake. But you can't stay here and insult me. You have no right."