"I just needed some air," Evan said defensively. Who was Adam to judge him on how well he handled things when he had completely given up everything he'd worked for in the blink of an eye? "I'm not wounded, and they don't have bad things to say about me. It's you they seem unable to shut up about." Adam this. Adam that. How do you feel about Adam leaving, Evan? It must be hard for you that Adam's gone, Evan. Adam, Adam, Adam. The one thing Evan desperately wanted to avoid talking about was on everyone's lips all the bloody time!
Evan tensed at the mention of their father, a man Evan strove so hard to impress, to gain the approval of. Adam had been his father's golden boy, and now he was gone, and Evan could swear that his father knew, each time he looked at him, that Evan would never measure up. "I don't need you to be proud of me," he muttered bitterly.
He had half a mind to refuse the cigarette. Merlin knew he wasn't comfortable taking a smoke break with his estranged brother. But his desperation for something to calm his nerves apparently won over his discomfort with the situation in general, and he reached forward to take one of the fags. But it was as he was plucking it from the case that he noticed something glinting on Adam's finger. A ring? As in a wedding band? Evan almost dropped the cigarette- almost. It was clearly going to be extremely valuable in about five seconds. "What the fuck is that?" he demanded, a finger pointing accusingly at the grey and black band.