Silence.

No one said anything and I saw how she tried her best to avoid my gaze.

Katherine was still shaking when the surprise drained off her face.

She never really had a choice and given what I saw, Those two would have hurt her more.

I stayed on the careful side of the space, the way you stand around something already cracked. Every shift of my weight felt too loud. Her fingers worried the empty air where the cup had been, then pressed against each other hard enough to bleach the knuckles.

"I'm sorry," she said, sudden. "I meant to hurt her. I wanted it. And now I want...