Okay, I know things are pretty hectic in your OC's world, but is there anyway you could do a minific with Sofia being like really sick and pukey when she visits? Maybe Max and Vin have to take care of her? Honestly I love all your stories and OC's but I really love some sassy Sofia and how she gets vulnerable around her big bro!
"Hi big brother," Sophia wasn't looking at the screen as the call connected, instead she was hunched over what he thought was the bathroom counter, applying eyeliner, "from a 1 to 10, what are the chances you'll door dash me beer?"
"Negative one hundred," Vince scoffed, rubbing his face. He had felt a jolt of panic at the video call, since Soph never ever called, wondering if maybe something had happened to their parents or Liv, but no. Of course she just wanted to use him for beer.
"Aww, c'mon, think of it like this, if you buy, you can know exactly how much I'll be drinking. You know I'll get my hands on it one way or another- Jesus, are you okay?" Her voice, that had drifted away as she moved around the bathroom, became crystalline clear.
The phone was now in her hand, held up to her face, blue eyes scrutinizing him, "you look sick."
Vince snorted, rubbing his temple. He still felt sick, even though he had gotten over the food poisoning a couple of days ago, "I'm fine-"
"Where are you?" Sophia talked over him, bringing the phone even closer as if that would gain her access to a 3D image, "this isn't your room- it's like 8 PM-"
"I'm at Luke's," he explained, cringing as he saw her eyes squint into slits.
"Why are you at Luke's... Guest bedroom," she guessed, "at 8 PM on a Friday night, looking like hell?"
"How is that any of your busin-" Vince whined, but Sophia was now on a mission. She had dropped her make up entirely.
"I don't think you realize how terrible you look, when was the last time you shaved?" And then, because Soph was a bully and all bullies smelt weakness, she said sharply, "where's Wendy? Let me talk to her."
Fuck.
Vince pressed his lips into a thin line, trying not to give more away than he already had, "I'm not buying you beer and I should hang up, I'm tired-"
"If you don't tell me, I'm calling her," Sophia scoffed, "and Lucas. And mamma."
"You wouldn't dare involving Ma, I'm an adult, Sophia-"
"Try me," she rolled her eyes, "what happened?" And of course her following words were, "what did that bitch do?"
"Jesus, Soph, don't call women that-"
"Vince, you better start speaking."
With a heavy sigh, he mumbled to his lap, "Wendy and I broke up."
When Sophia didn't say anything, he looked up. His sister had moved out of the bathroom entirely and was now sitting on her dorm bed, arms crossed, phone propped somewhere he couldn't tell.
"What did she do?"
"Why do you assume it was her?" Vin wrinkled his nose in distaste, the urge to defend his ex far too strong after three years together.
"Because I don't think you'd be sitting there looking like you're gonna throw up if you had dumped her," Soph rolled her eyes, "and because I overheard you talking about wedding rings with mamma. So I'll ask again, what did she do?"
He sighed, "it's super past your bedtime, piccolina, how about you drop this and go do whatever stupid mistake you were gonna do- I'll buy you the beer you wanted."
"Did she cheat on you?" Sophia gasped, her face turning pink, "Vin?!"
Part of him honestly rather Wendy had, at least then he could've had some closure instead of one day his girlfriend waking up and deciding to bully people.
"No, Soph, she didn't," Vince groaned, angrily rubbing his face. She was right he needed to shave, "I'm gonna go now-"
"What the fuck, did she hit you?!" Sophia's voice was climbing to harpy levels and he cringed at the prospect of her dorm neighbors hearing about his misery. Also the concept of Wendy committing domestic violence, specifically against a man twice her size, was laughable, he wondered if Sophia thought he was this helpless.
"Sophia, ma qui cazzo," Vince cursed, "no, she didn't hit me!"
"Then tell me what happened!" Sophia shrieked, glaring at him.
"You're insufferable," he groaned, swearing a string of words in Italian, then gave up all attempts to hold back. It was oddly satisfying to tell Sophia what had happened, when she was so viciously on his side. Not that the others hadn't been — Lucas specially — but there was always Wen's presence haunting it all, since they were so deeply tied to her. With Max and Jonah, to say the least.
Sophia didn't give a crap about relations, she was out for blood.
"I see," Soph said after Vin was done retelling, probably for the third time, the last meeting he had had with Wendy. Then he sat there, trying to swallow the lump in his throat. Fuck, it didn't get any easier no matter how many times he said it, "I think I should go pay you a visit, Vin."
"What?" Vince blinked, bewildered. Sophia hadn't stepped in Welton since she graduated, making it very clear the only reason she had ever come to the city were for the once in a blue moon football game and now that he no longer played, she had no reason to show up at all, "no, you have your classes, there's no need-"
"I didn't ask you," she rolled her eyes, "Angie said she wanted to visit Jonah anyway, so you know. It works out."
Since when were Sophia and Angie friends? Last he had heard Soph had called Jon's baby sister "a snotty stuck up" and yelled at him for making her drive with the girl.
"Sophia, I'm staying at Luke's, there's no space even-"
"I'll grab a hotel," she shrugged, then softened up for a split second, "you're better off, Vin. I know it hurts, but it's best you found out she's a bitch now, instead of later."
"Stop calling her that, Sophia," he sighed, but then shrugged, because she did have a point. Finding out Wendy could hurt people she loved so easily, three years into dating her was hurting, but would've hurt a whole lot more a decade in the future.
"I'm calling it as I see it," his sister scoffed, making a face at him, "I'm sorry, Vin."
His heart squeezed, "I'm sorry too, bambi."
"When I get my hands on her I'm gonna wring her neck," Sophia whispered darkly, then opened a bright smile at him, "see you this weekend. Don't forget to send me my beer, love you, bye!"
Then the screen went black and Vince groaned, loudly, feeling like somehow he had just walked into a trap.
------------
Angie's idea of a good time was not spending 3 hours locked in a car with little Ms. Bitchsaurus, but apparently the universe had a sense of humor.
Truth was, Angelina was a bad driver. She had earned her license by a miracle — or more likely, Jasper had paid the instructor off — but if she had used it more than 3 times, it was three times too many. It wasn't that big of a deal when living in campus and in Boston, where they had the T, but it was a pain in the ass when she wanted to visit her brother.
That meant when Sophia Monacelli had texted her "Heading to Welton this weekend. U need a ride?", Angelina had jumped at the opportunity, even if it meant spending 3 hours locked with the most insufferable Regina George wannabe she had ever met.
They weren't friends, no matter what Luke seemed to think with his cheeky remarks. Sophia was obnoxious and scary and Angie didn't like her, but since she was hooking up with one of Angie's classmates, their buildings were right next to each other and their brothers were best friends, Angelina saw her more than she would've liked.
"Why the sour face?" Sophia lowered her sunglasses as she parked, wonkily, right in front of Angie, fifteen minutes late.
Angelina glanced at her watch, tsk-tsking under her breath. She didn't like conflicts and Sophia was the type of girl who never said sorry. There was no point bringing up her tardiness.
"Nothing," she mumbled instead, throwing her backpack in the backseat of Sophia's Honda Fit and sitting down on the passenger side. She hadn't even finished buckling in before the other girl was speeding down the street, causing Angie to squeeze the seatbelt buckle.
Olvia Rodrgo started blasting out of the speakers and Angie sunk against the seat, trying to dodge the sound in the confined space of the car, "can you- CAN YOU TURN IT DOWN!?"
Sophia glared at her over her sunglasses, icy blue eyes scrutinizing the other woman and rolling with annoyance, before the song was turned down to human-ear levels, "better?"
"How can you drive with the music on that level? Your ears are gonna bleed," Angie complained, "it's also, probably, a hazard. How are you gonna listen to honks?"
"People don't honk at me," Sophia snorted, "because I know how to drive."
Angelina's stomach disagreed, already souring up from the manic speed and twists. They weren't even out of Boston, why did Sophia need to cut through as if they were on a time crunch was beyond her.
"Sure," she sighed, leaning her head back.
Awkward silence befell them. They weren't friends, after all, and all that Angelina knew about Sophia was that the other girl was Vince's sister, that she used to be a cheerleader and that she had no qualms about PDA, judging by how many times Angie had walked on Sophia and Matt with their tongues down each other throats. Ew.
"So... How's college?" Angie mumbled, as soon as they hit the highway and she managed to get her stomach in check as they were no longer rushing and stopping to a nauseating degree. Still, she kept her eyes firmly on the horizon.
She couldn't remember what was Sophia's major, but she knew the other girl had told her. Or she hadn't, far too busy calling Angie's fine arts degree a "spoiled brat career", as she had said the last time they drove together. Of course you'd pick something useless like that.
Angie hadn't forgotten. She wrinkled her nose, breathing out of it strongly.
"Eh, not as bad as I thought it was gonna be," Sophia shrugged, speeding up, "I thought I wouldn't have any social life and become a total hermit, but so far so good."
Angie forced a smile, which looked more like a wince. By the other girl's standards, she was sure she was a loser, "ah, yeah, there are, uh- A ton of parties. The fraternity and sorority ones seem cool..." No, they didn't. They sounded like hell and Angelina rather chop off an arm than willingly go to a crowded house party filled with drunk frat boys, people making out in every corner and music blasting through the windows.
"Oh yeah?" The other girl opened a mocking smile, "never seen you at any."
Shit. So much for small talk, Angie thought, as her cheeks caught on fire and she shrugged, hugging herself in a self conscious manner, "you must've... must have missed me."
"Uh-huh," Sophia grinned, "I'm sure I did."
Angie pouted at Soph's tone, crossing her arms and glaring out of the windshield. Fine, no talking.
Sophia didn't seem bothered by her pouting, if anything she seemed slightly pleased by it, turning up the music volume just a little bit and spreading into the seat, an arm resting on her window, buried in her hair.
Angelina's annoyance lasted a grand total of one hour, before she started to feel itchy to speak or move. Ideally, if she wasn't in a moving vehicle, she'd grab a book or one of her mini painting kits, but it was not an option unless Angie wanted to get severely carsick. She scrolled through her phone to try and find a podcast, but Sophia's music was too loud and she started to get queasy with how long she took to pick anyway. She was bored.
"So, uhm- What prompted this...Visit?" Did Vince even want her there? Did anyone? Angie thought with a small frown, then chastised herself. That was mean, Sophia was clearly deeply loved by her brother and hell, even Luke seemed to like her.
"Wendy broke my brother's heart, so I'm gonna strangle her," Sophia answered it all in one breath, bristling with anger, "the nerve in that little bitch-"
"Jesus," Angie's eyes widened at the swear, at the whole circumstance really. She wasn't a combative person, far from it actually, and Sophia's unmitigated fury was unsettling, "I thought- Uh... You and Wendy were friends...?"
"Friends my ass! She called him a bunch of insults! She was mean to Bella!"
Luke's...Wife? What?
"Uh, are we talking about the same Wendy? My brother's best friend...? She's so nice and she's so coo-" Angie's mouth snapped shut as Sophia whipped around like a snake to glare at her. She gulped down, "that Wendy?"
"Yeah, that Wendy," the other girl looked back to the road, much to Angelina's relief, "you know, the cunt my brother was gonna propose to, that one."
Yikes.
"Uhmmm," Angie wracked her brain to try and come up with anything to say. She didn't want to dogpile on the cursing of Wendy, she liked Wen... A lot, actually. Whenever Leo and Jon were too lovey dovey to handle, Wen always sheltered her and never made Angie feel like a burden, instead making it seem like they were having a girl's night. It just... Didn't sound like her at all, "did- Did your brother tell you all that?"
Sophia scoffed, drumming her fingers on the steering wheel angrily, "no, of course not. Vince is a doormat, all he did was cry and sob," she rolled her eyes, "I called Luke, after. He gave me the correct run down."
Well, shit.
Angelina liked Wendy alright, but she loved Lucas like a brother... And if Luke was saying it was that bad...
"That sounds... Odd," she offered, causing Sophia to snort.
"Talk about doormats," the other girl whispered under her breath and to prove her point, Angie ignored the needling, "whatever, I'm gonna chop her head off, so none of this matters."
Angelina very much hoped that Sophia was exaggerating, but she wasn't so sure about that... The girl definitely seemed unhinged enough to run someone over with her car. She just hoped she wouldn't be turned into accessory to murder by being in said car.
They drove another twenty, tense minutes into silence, broken solely by Sophia hissing insults under her breath, now sufficiently riled up, and chugging from her water bottle, that was filled with some pink sparkly liquid Angie couldn't identify.
She let out a heavy, bored sigh and stared at the ceiling of the car, "I'm bored."
"Read something," Sophia shrugged and Angie rolled her eyes, sparing her a glare.
"I can't read if you wanna preserve your upholstery," she bit out, causing Soph's eyebrows to jump up, probably surprised at the snippy answer.
"You get carsick?"
"Yeah," Angie pursed her lips, "talk with me, we still have an hour and a half to go..."
"I'm not a court jester," Sophia glared ahead and Angie groaned, poking her side.
"Taaaalk with me. We're gonna be locked here for forever!"
"Sleep," she snapped back, but Angie could clearly see she was pressing her lips not to laugh, "what do you wanna talk about?"
"Why business?" Angie perked up immediately at the prospect of a real conversation, "how was it growing up with two siblings? Were you really born in Italy? Do you speak Italian? Are you actually a cheerleader or you just look the part? How did you even meet Matt and like- Do you like him? Actually? Because he's kinda..."
"Slow?" Sophia was now full on smiling, "hot though."
"I guess," Angie shrugged, not wanting to delve into that subject. Men weren't hot to her, she simply didn't understand the appeal, "so...?" She said, meaning the other twenty questions.
Much to her surprise, Sophia could actually carry a conversation. Maybe because it was about herself? Nevertheless, she answered mostly of what Angie asked with brutal, disarming honesty that won her a giggle or two.
Yes, she was genuinely Italian and yes, she spoke the language — and if she sounded really cool speaking it, Angie wasn't gonna tell her, since her ego was already enormous — , she had picked business because she wanted to spearhead her mother's cooking business and make it countrywide, she was an actual cheerleader and had gotten into college through a sports scholarship-
"And shouldn't you know what's growing up with siblings?" Sophia squinted at her and Angelina wondered why the girl was pissed off. Maybe it was just her chronic case of resting bitch face, "you have Jonah, right? And Luke...?"
"Lucas is not my actual brother," Angie pouted at her lap, "although... I guess I saw him more than Jon, when growing up. My parents shipped Jon off to boarding school when I was still a toddler, I really don't remember him all the much except for when he visited for summer... And a lot of those summers my mom insisted I was in France for an event or another, so I wasn't even home when he was there..."
"That sucks," Sophia huffed, "you don't have a brother but you don't even have the benefits of being an only child... Though I guess, it doesn't matter to you, right? I mean, money wasn't an issue."
Angie stiffened up, bracing herself, "what does that mean?" She frowned, self consciously. Yes, she was a trust fund baby, but that didn't mean she appreciated Sophia throwing it on her face.
"I mean, the big benefits of being an only child is not having to share your shit, all your parents resources are for you, right?" Sophia was downright glaring now, rubbing her temple with the heel of her hand, "but that's like... Not an issue when you're loaded, that's what I meant."
"I guess not," Angie sighed, curling up on her seat. It was stupid, to feel wounded over being called rich when that was just plain facts, but well... She never felt like wealth had brought anything good in her life. Which was obviously a privileged feeling in itself, but Angie couldn't help it. She downright resented being reminded of how loaded her family was.
"Don't pout," Sophia groaned, squirming on her seat. The sun was setting ahead of them and there were only thirty more minutes to go, "I didn't- I didn't mean to offend you..."
Wow, an apology?
Angie raised her eyebrows, but kept staring ahead, "I'm not offended. You're right."
"Doesn't- Uurp," Sophia muffled a burp in her fist, causing Angelina to bite down a snort, "sorry, excuse me- Doesn't mean I should've rubbed it in..."
"It's fine," Angie insisted, cursing her own doormat tendencies. They sat there in silence, so thick that a needle drop could be heard... So Sophia's stomach grumbling was heard loud and clear.
"Wow, are you hungry?" Angie asked, tearing her eyes from the deep purple sky, "I think I have an energy bar..." She moved to try and retrieve it from her bag in the backseat, but a groan stopped her mid movement.
"No..." Sophia's voice was a little strained, "my stomach's... Gross."
"Gross?" Angie raised an eyebrow, amused by the wording more than anything, "uhm- Like you gotta go-"
Sophia's cheeks turned an alarming shade of red and she shot Angie an incredulous look, "NO," she said through her teeth, looking offended, "just... Hurts."
"Oh," Angie settled back down on the seat, "I... I don't know how to help. Have you tried drinking water?"
Soph huffed, "I've been drinking water for the past three hours, boo."
That she had, Angie relented. She chewed on her lip, trying to think of anything else that could help. They were nearly in Welton, twenty more minutes to go... "You think you can make it to the town?"
"Of course," the girl shrugged, "what the other option? Stranded in the middle of nowhere with you?"
Angie pouted at the infliction on her voice, scoffing and turning away, staring back at the road. Sophia was such a prick, why was she even concerned about her?
Ten more minutes passed and Angie watched her from the corner of her eye the entire time. Sophia's condition was worsening by the minute. No amount of blush and foundation could hide how pale she was turning and how she kept muffling little burps in her hand and wincing.
"You-" Soph gulped down, reaching for her huge purple water bottle and taking a big sip. She blew out a little burp, not even bothering to excuse herself, "you want me to drop you off at Jonah's? I'm heading to Luke's..."
"No, I'll go with you, Jon can pick me up there after," Angie shrugged, feeling a little jolt of excitement at the prospect of seeing Lucas again. And Bella too! While they were friendly, Angie really wanted to be her friend, not just because she was Luke's wife, but the woman looked really damn cool and maybe Angie harbored something like...A girl crush?
She wasn't sure and she didn't want to think about it either.
"Suit'yerself," Sophia mumbled, speeding up just a tad, looking clearly uncomfortable. They were passing by the familiar pine tunnel that led up to Welton, probably just thirty more minutes to go in order to arrive to the city and the cross it to the suburbs.
Soph let out a grunt, "fuck it hurts," she whispered darkly, removing a hand from the steering wheel and digging into her side.
Angie didn't say a word, not sure how she could be of any help or if Sophia even deserved any help. The girl next to her massaged her stomach, unashamed, which was probably due to her being an athlete. She seemed to have no embarrassment towards her body at all, the complete opposite of Angelina, who'd rather drink bleach than harbor a tummy ache around a stranger.
"Uhm," Soph groaned, rushing a hand to her mouth so suddenly that Angie jerked on her seat, in order to glue herself to the door and avoid what she was sure was going to be an exorcist imitation. Instead, the girl only let out a thick burp in her hand, cheeks dusting with pink, "sry- Urepr-" she muffled another one, face scrunching up with disgust as it turned wet at the end, "oof, 'scuse-me..."
"Are you sure you don't want to pull over?" Angie asked, eyeing her skeptically. She was now downright green. Was this right? Did all white people turn actually green when sick? Angelina wouldn't know, her family was black and she hadn't had many close friends growing up, period. At least, not close enough she had to hold their hair back while puking...
Yeah, maybe it was a white people thing, she decided.
"Nuh-huh...Don't..." Soph gulped down, a hand still cupped right under her chin just in case, the other one squeezing the steering wheel so tightly her knuckles were white. There was no way this was safe, "don't trust you behind a wheel..."
"I have a license," Angie scoffed, crossing her arms, "I'm not very good, but if you're dying-"
"M'not dyin," Sophia moved the hand from her mouth, in order to rub angrily at her forehead. She jostled with an aborted heave and her cheeks puffed as she blew out a slow, measured breath.
"Pull. Over," Angie insisted, "your brother can come pick us up! We're already in town!"
"I'm FINE," Sophia took her eyes away from the road to glare at Angie and they were a little scary, she couldn't lie. That unnerving shade of light blue that shouldn't belong in a tanned complexion such as hers, "your voice's givin' me a headache, shut up."
"You're gonna crash," Angie ignored the order, chewing on her lip, "you're gonna crash and we're both going to die."
"I'm not crashing!" Sophia squealed and instead of slowing down like a sane person would, she sped up even more. Even though they were inside the city, instead of the open road.
"Are you crazy!? Slow down!" Angie curled up on the seat, voice climbing to panicked levels, "slow down, Sophia!"
"You're such a baby," Soph groaned, then let out a whimper and clutched her stomach, "Oooh, god, I don't feel well... I really don't feel good..."
Did she have no shame at all?
"It's probably gas," Angie mumbled, glaring out of the windshield, legs curled up to her chest and arms around them. At least if they crashed, she'd probably die on the impact by being in this position.
"It's noooot gas, shut up!" Sophia cried out, then let out another one of those kicked puppy whimpers, hissing as if she was being stabbed. This time around, Angie opted for saving her time and saliva and said nothing.
Ten more minutes and she could tell Sophia was straight up sick. She was shaking and sweating, driving out of sheer stubbornness. At least they were in the suburbs, if Angie just read the Google Map-
"You're- you're losing us..." Sophia accused her, voice trembling, "I'm gonna throw up on you-"
"I'm reading the map! It says go ri- Oh look!" Angie glanced up from the phone — thank goodness, because looking at it was making her nauseous. Or maybe it was just sympathy sickness over Sophia's plight — "it's Luke's car! Just follow him!"
Sophia didn't say thanks or acknowledge Angie's genius at all and the other girl sighed, happy that this torture was nearly over. They followed Luke for five more minutes, before he pulled over in front of a house and so did they, right behind him, so close that for a second Angie wondered if Sophia was gonna jam her sedan onto his jeep.
"Hey!" Luke jumped out of the vehicle, big smile on, "what are you two doing here!?" His voice was loud enough that they could hear him even though he was a couple feet away, jogging closer.
"Hiiii!" Angie threw her door open, stumbling out of the car as if she was a drunken sailor. She was so happy to be out of that sardines can, she might as well roll on the grass. Lucas tackled her with a hug.
"Hi, kiddo," he wrapped Angie up, squeezing her tightly and tilting his body back to pluck her out of the ground, "that's such a nice surprise..."
Her face caught on fire and she turned it, hiding it on his shirt and letting out a happy sigh, "missed you too-"
Lucas planted her down with a forehead kiss, then circled the car to the driver's door, "what about you, Catherina? Make anyone cry today?"
Angie snorted at the movie quote, wondered if it was some inside joke-
And then Luke pulled Soph's door open and the girl promptly threw up all over his shoes.
He let out a shout, jumping back, and groaning since that did nothing to avoid the mess. Soph was hanging out of the car door like Samara from The Ring, long brown hair falling forward and threatening to brush the puddle of sick on the asphalt, hands curled on the door handle and the car frame.
"Jeez, Soph," Luke's voice was impossibly soft, unbothered by his shoes as he crouched down, right on the line of fire and started pulling the hair away from her mouth, "you're really sick, uh?"
A whimper, half sob, answered him and he let out a cooing noise, peeling Soph's hands from the car, "c'mon, let's get you inside and near a real toilet, a real bed... C'mon, Soph..."
Her knees wobbled and buckled as Lucas pried her out of the car and he let out a whistle, catching her before she went down, "I see," his voice had a humorous tone, "if you wanted me to carry you, all you had to do was ask, Soph..." then he picked her up bridal style.
Angie rolled her eyes at the drama, "she's not that sick," she scoffed, but her voice was carefully too low. She didn't want to piss off Sophia.
Said girl, who had thrown her arms around Luke's neck and was probably enjoying herself. Ew, Angie thought, shuddering.
"You," Luke gestured to her with his head, "run ahead to open the door, Ange."
"She's not dying," Angie grumbled, feeling a weird stab of jealousy that she certainly should not be feeling... But Luke was her brother. Well, sorta. Kinda, "she said so herself."
"Angelina," Lucas huffed out a laugh, "go!"
Sophia whimpered again and Angie felt a tug at her heartstrings. Maybe she wasn't playing it up, maybe she was that sick...
I think by the time Monty kissed Edwin, Edwin already knew that he loved Charles. In the same that Charles would always go to Hell, they may not be in love or an official romantic relationship, but they do love each other and they are domesticate partners in a technical sense of "living" together. (The only time either Charles or Edwin are in relaxed clothing is when they are alone together.)
And Charles did not reject Edwin. He accepted the love and the notion of Edwin being in love, he just expressed that his reciprocation isn't quite there. He also leaves it open, he doesn't say: No, for good, I will never be in love with you. He says: We have literally forever to figure the rest out.
Monty is a sweet boy, a good character, and one of my favorites, but to imply that their relationship would necessarily work as an endgame relationship is a bit crazy to me.
Edwin is dead, Monty didn't even really want to be human or alive in the state of consciousness where he can experience love. And I don't think love is what was driving Monty, it was infatuation.
Monty had never loved anyone, he didn't even know about it a few days ago, but there's this pretty boy who makes him want to smile and he seems to like him back.
And Edwin, rejecting Monty, was great on Edwin's part. He handled it gently, as gracefully and kindly as he could. Simply, so as not to lead the poor boy on.
