"But you are, Al," he countered, shaking his head in disgust. "And I couldn't find any of you and I didn't know where to look." His hands shook and he had to clench them into tight fists to stop it. "Ol and I should've tried hard, should've found Ange and... and kept you all out of harm." George lifter a hand to scrub over his face, to cover his expression, to hide it from Alicia.
She was right, in a way. She wasn't his to protect, because that right was reserved for people who were close to her, who acted like a friend. Who didn't ignore his friends when the going got tough.
"Al, you are my family. I couldn't get over losing you any better than— than—"