Page 216 of Silver Sweet

“No,” Beckett says gently.

“She can have my room,” Eliot decrees, trying to find a solution to appease everyone, but this isn’t going to fucking work. This is such a bad idea, and to be completely honest—we’re full of those, he and I.

We know how to breathe under the mess we create, but Ben will suffocate. I do not want to smother our little brother.

I cut in, “Eliot Alice?—”

“We’ll paint the walls blue?—”

“No, Eliot.” I abruptly stand up from my chair. It crashes backward with the sudden force.

Surprise coats his eyes. “Tom. We’re on the same side.”

It hurts. “I don’t think we are, Eliot.” I face my sister who blinks back tears. “I’m sorry, Audrey, but I don’t want you to move in with us.”

“Cobalts are the strongest united as one,” Audrey says tearfully, trying to sway me, and she’s doing a decent job. Especially when she says, “Ensemble.”Together.

“Ensemble,” Eliot chimes in.

All I see is Ben struggling to breathe at the end of the table. Does no one else see him? Am I imagining this?No, I’m not.Beckett has left his chair. He’s crouching down to Ben and speaking hushed to him, and our dad leans over and whispers to Ben, too.

“I know, I know, I know,” Ben mutters into his palms. “I’m okay.” He’s not okay. “It’s not fair to her.” I hear his guilt over being a roadblock to Audrey’s big New York move. He doesn’t want to be the reason she doesn’t come, but he also doesn’t want her to move in with us either.

I have no guilt. “Audrey, don’t come to New York. Don’t graduate early,” I plead. “Think of all the time you’ll miss out with Kinney. Okay, be with your best friend. You don’t get that time back either.”

“I…” Audrey’s chin quakes seeing our little brother verge into a panic attack. Soon he’s springing out of his chair. Beckett leads him out of the dining room with our dad following behind.

The door shuts, but the tension hasn’t left with them.

“Gremlin,” Mom says to Audrey. “Do you need to step out for a moment?”

“No,” Audrey hoists her chin again, collecting her emotion. “I’m applying to Manhattan Valley University,” she tells the rest of us here. “If I get accepted, I start school next January. So if I’m not living with all of you, I’ll be living at the dorms.”

“Wonderful. Go with that,” Charlie snaps.

“I will,” Audrey threatens.

“She won’t,” Eliot says. “You’re living with us.”

“Eliot,” I groan, my hands threaded on my head.

He stands up now too. “Ben will be fine. If we opened our doors to him, it’s only fair we do the same for our sister?—”

“It’s not the same. Nothing about this is the fucking same!” I shout in distress.

Jane is on her feet now. Which means the only two still sitting are Charlie and our mom. Jane taps a goblet with her knife, as though this is a normal Wednesday Night Dinner and it’s her turn for an opening remark.

This is not normal.

Not even close.

“Brothers. The ones who remain.” She swings her butter knife loosely to Charlie, me, and Eliot. “This decision is a monumental one, and I would like to remind you that we all flew from the nest at one time. Let our little sister fly free.” She extends her feathered arms.

“Jane Eleanor,” I gape. “A bird metaphor?” I release an angered groan. “We arelions.Okay, Audrey shouldn’t be flying. She should be with Mom. Mom, don’t you want Audrey here a little longer?”

Mom taps her sharp nails to the table. “Don’t bring me into your defense.”

“But it’s a good one.”