Rion wouldn’t stop crying, not even after his dad came back with drinks. He broke down completely, becoming an incoherent mess. They didn’t stay for much longer, guiltily taking their coffees before seeing themselves out.

If Jesse didn’t feel like exploding, he would’ve felt bad for Mr. Blum.

His heart was racing in his chest, his thoughts running wild. He couldn’t stop thinking about what Rion said. He couldn’t stop imagining it.

It was horrific.

Jesse was glad to be gone. He was relieved to be out of that room. He couldn’t say anything else to Rion. Jesse was too upset to speak to him without yelling or breaking down crying or both.

They left the room, headed down the hall, making for the elevator. It was a long quiet walk, none of them saying anything, letting what Rion told them sink in.

“Should we… Should we head down and sit for a bit?” Danny said, finally breaking the silence as they reached the elevator.

“I think that’s a good idea,” Peter said.

Jesse wasn’t sure he agreed. But he did feel like he had a lot to say to someone, so for now he went along with it. He wasn’t ready to start talking. Once he started, he wouldn’t be able to stop.

They went down to the main floor and found themselves a secluded table. The second they were seated, barely comfortable, Jesse spoke.

“Why would Rion say that?”

“He thinks he’s protecting Noa,” Peter said.

“No. You’re not listening,” Jesse said. “Why would he say that? What’s wrong with him? Why would he–?”

“Because he’s saying the worst thing he possibly can,” Peter said. “He’s trying to push us away. He wants to hurt us.”

“Mission accomplished!” Jesse said, throwing up his hands. “How are you just sitting there, not caring? Didn’t you hear what he said?”

“I did,” Celeste said softly. Her gaze was turned down to the tabletop, her shoulders hunched. She looked about as miserable as Jesse felt. “It’s… It’s too horrible to be true.”

“Yeah,” Danny said. “Yeah, that whole story was so messed up! Where’d he even come up with that?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Peter said. “It’s a lie.”

“How do you know?” Jesse asked. “How can you be sure?”

He didn’t want it to be true. It was too awful, worse than anything Jesse could have imagined. And now it was all he could think of, too real and vivid in his mind. He could see Amber slipping and falling, and then…

How could Rion say he did something so horrible?! Why?!

“None of it makes any sense,” Peter said. “Think about it, Jesse. What is Rion afraid of?”

“Afraid…? What?”

“What happened to his mom?”

“His… Oh…” Jesse said as the realization sunk in. “Storms… Rion can’t handle…”

“He’s terrified of thunder and lightning,” Peter said. “And Noa’s afraid of bathtubs and drowning. Do you get it? There’s a twisted logic to his story. He tried to think of the worst possible thing and combined his own fears with Noa’s. He really wants us to hate him.”

“But I don’t know what Noa could have done to make him say something like that,” Danny said. He was turning his coffee cup around in circles on the table. “It’s crazy. I don’t… It’s so messed up.”

“It’s too messed up,” Jesse said. “I don’t understand. How can he… I can’t think of anything worse than that. I can’t… Why would he try to hurt us like that?”

“He’s stuck in a pattern,” Peter said. “He… Rion’s been alone for six years, trying to protect Noa. He’s a good friend, but this is bordering on dysfunctional. It’s unhealthy, and he… We can’t expect him to suddenly be normal after everything he’s been through.”

Jesse waved a hand as he struggled to find the right words. “But he sounded so…”

Sincere.

Rion sounded sincere.

He’d broken down and cried and it…it made it so real. It was such a horrible story, such a surreal story. And it made the whole thing seem true because of how intense and messed up it was.

It made Jesse nauseous. Was Rion that good of a liar? It didn’t seem possible. And if he wasn’t that good of a liar, that meant he was telling the truth, right? But that couldn’t be the truth, could it?

“Rion didn’t mention the pictures,” Peter said. “That’s why Noa was upset in the first place. Those blurry pictures… Rion didn’t say anything about them. It doesn’t make sense. They must be related to all of this.”

“But… But the pictures could have been an accident,” Celeste said. “I mean…maybe it had to do with something else?”

“But then why did Noa get upset?” Peter said. “And both of them seem to tie those pictures in with Amber, right? Danny, you said something about that didn’t you?”

“I’m pretty sure that when they fought…um… Rion said something about Amber caring about Noa,” Danny said. “I don’t know. It seemed like it was related.”

“Exactly,” Peter said with a nod. “Something else happened. Whatever it is, Noa and those pictures were involved. I’m sure of it. Rion’s just trying to protect him. It makes sense.”

And it did make sense. Jesse wanted to believe Peter. It sounded right.

But he couldn’t ignore the nauseous feeling in the pit of his stomach. He hated it. He wished he hadn’t heard anything Rion said today. He was already struggling with the thought of Amber being trapped in the cabin during the fire. Now…

Now he was imagining Amber getting helplessly dragged off to be electrocuted by Rion.

“I feel like I’m going to be sick,” Jesse said, putting his face in his hands.

“Do you need to go to the bathroom?” Danny asked.

“I don’t know,” Jesse said.

He didn’t want to think about it. He didn’t want to know. Why had Rion said something so awful? It didn’t make any sense. It just didn’t.

“I’ll find out what really happened,” Peter said. “My parents know something. I’m going to ask them.”

“What?” Jesse said, looking up. “Your parents…?”

“They know more about what happened to Amber,” Peter said. “I asked about it the other day and Mom got upset so we put the conversation on hold. My parents said… They said something about Amber not suffering and that there was nothing Rion or Noa could have done.”

“They would know the most about what happened,” Celeste said. “I mean, they must have spoken to the police, right?”

Peter nodded. “Yes, they did. They must know the most out of anyone. Besides, I think someone would have mentioned it if Amber… If what Rion said was true, someone would have heard about it.”

“That’s a great point,” Danny chimed in. “There’s no way people wouldn’t have gossiped. The whole town would know.”

Everything they were saying made sense to Jesse. Logically, he knew that they were probably right. The facts all lined up.

But whether it was his personal feelings about Amber or some kind of gut instinct, Jesse wasn’t convinced. And he hated it.

He wished he could accept what they were telling him. He wanted them to be right. He wanted Rion to be a liar. He wanted Amber to have died peacefully.

But why would Rion lie the way he had? Why did he sound so convincing? Why did he cry and cry and cry and…

“Is Rion… Is he really that good of a liar?” Jesse said, turning fully to Peter. “Are you sure?”

“I’m sure,” Peter said with equal emphasis, meeting Jesse’s gaze. “This is who Rion is. This is who he’s become. It’s sad, but he can get help now. He told me he’s seeing Dr. Maes and if we support him…”

“Yeah,” Danny said. “Yeah, we’ve got to come together, and… We need to be there for each other.”

“But how?” Jesse said. “How can we support him when he doesn’t want us to. He said he electrocuted Amber.”

Peter grimaced. “I know. I know, Jesse. But he’s saying that because it’s the worst thing he can think to say. He wants to hurt us. Do you really think Rion would do something like that to Amber?”

Jesse stared down at his coffee long and hard. Would Rion do that? He didn’t know.

He didn’t know Rion. Maybe he did, once upon a time, when they were kids. But Amber’s death had changed everything. Six years apart had changed everything. And he’d never been that close with Rion to begin with.

“I don’t think Rion would do something like that,” Celeste spoke up. “I don’t think he would… He loved Amber, and… I know that whatever happened must have been hard on him, but I can’t imagine that he would have… He couldn’t have thought doing something so horrible would fix anything.”

“Yeah, that didn’t make sense either,” Danny said. “He said he wanted to fix things. How would doing that to Amber…? That would just make it worse.”

“We’re missing something,” Peter said. “I know we’re missing something.”

“Maybe we are,” Jesse said. “Maybe something’s missing. But… Sorry. I’m sorry, but it’s too hard for me to understand. It hurts, and I can’t… I can’t just ignore what he said. Even if it’s not true.”

“You don’t have to ignore it,” Peter said.

“That’s what it sounds like you’re saying,” Jesse said. “You keep telling me that it can’t be true. And maybe it isn’t. But it’s still a horrible thing to say.”

“It is horrible. You’re right,” Peter said. “Listen, if you need to take some time and go home and just…not visit Rion… That’s okay.”

“I don’t know if that would make it any better,” Jesse sighed, scrubbing at his face. “I don’t know. I don’t feel good. This is all so messed up, and I… I don’t want to think about Amber like this.”

They fell silent. Jesse took the moment to breathe, to try and calm down. It wasn’t helping.

“I’ll ask Noa.”

Jesse looked up at Peter, who downed his coffee and sucked in a breath.

“But you said he didn’t want visitors,” Celeste said.

“Yes, but I’m going to try,” Peter said. “I can do it right now. Other than Rion and my parents, he’s the only other person who knows what happened.”

Jesse felt a small spark of hope, right beneath all of his frustration and pain.

“But do you think he’d tell the truth?” Jesse asked. “Do you think he’d tell you what really happened? He barely talks anymore…”

“I want to try,” Peter said, getting up. “I’ll go right now. If he’ll see me, I’ll come back with an answer. If not, then I’ll just depend on my parents for the truth. We’ll have our answers one way or another.”