At Ben’s explanation, Rory’s expression softened. Sure, Rory himself wasn’t a human lie detector, but after everything he’d learned in the past couple of weeks? Rory was completely willing to believe that maybe Ben was. He looked calculatingly at Ben for a few moments, then reached for his crutches so he could hobble himself back to his chair. Settling into it, Rory said, “It’s scary, isn’t it?” He drew a slow breath. “All right. Fine. If I’m a human aphrodisiac, I see very little stopping you from being a human lie detector. And if that’s the case...” Rory turned his head to glance at the face down picture he’d left on the other side of his room, then directed his gaze back at Ben and sighed. “Then there’s really no point in lying.”
He was silent for a long moment, thinking, before he said, softly, “Yes, Ben. I am in love with Eisen. But I would ask you not to share that information. Please. I know how big you are on honesty -- and I guess now I know why -- but some lies... need to be told. For the sake of friendship.” As he looked into Ben’s eyes again, the coldness, the hardness, had melted away as quickly as it had come. “Do you understand that?”