Great. At least Ben was showing some signs of understanding, but given the curtness of his responses, Rory couldn’t really tell how much he knew. He turned his eyes down for a moment, hating to see the anger on the boy’s face. How had Rory allowed this situation to get so fucked up? How had he possibly thought that something like this wouldn’t happen? One of Rory’s hands curled slowly into a fist and he took a shaky breath.
“Okay. Well... apparently I can do something... strange too. I only just found out about it this week. Honestly. I still don’t really know exactly what it is or how to control it.” He swallowed and forced himself to look up at Ben. “And I swear to you that I didn’t want anything bad to happen to your sister. Okay? I’m sure you won’t believe me when I tell you that, but... I have to say it.” Rory paused for a moment and sighed. “A-anyway. As far as I can tell -- and let me reiterate, my information isn’t perfect here -- I can control... attraction. I don’t think it’s really... emotions. But I know that I can sense when two people are attracted to each other.” He gave Ben a slightly sharper glance. “Like you and Charlotte Parker, for example.”
Rory couldn’t stay in one place. Getting up from his chair (a process that was just painful enough to cause his face to contort ever so slightly in pain), Rory grabbed his crutches and hobbled over to the bed as he spoke. “Look. So. A few days ago at the coffee shop I... I was with your sister. We were having a good time. Friends. But... you know that things are still fluid between us. Ever since...” he shook his head, his breath a little sharper at the memory. “Well. You know. But then... Sebastian Sullivan walked in. And I’d seen them talking to each other before. They had things in common, you know? And I was watching them talk and I just thought... I thought...” Rory closed his eyes. “I thought that he’d be better for her than I ever could be. So...”
Rory trialed off, then opened his eyes again, looking directly at Ben. His voice had risen a little in pitch, and the words spilled frantically from his mouth, as if he were a guilty witness in a murder trial. “I didn’t really mean to do it. I swear I didn’t. I just thought... maybe if Fiona was attracted to someone who wasn’t...” he glanced at his legs, then at his desk, where the Hershey kisses still sat. “Someone who wasn’t me. I wanted so badly for her to be with someone else -- to be happy with someone else -- that... I guess... I guess I made it happen. And the next thing I knew, Fiona and Bast were making out. So... I left.” Rory took another breath. “Look. I know it wasn’t right. I know that. But I swear Ben, I didn’t mean to manipulate your sister. Not consciously. It just... happened.”