The harshness of his words, how stern his voice was, made Elle flinch a little. Rez was so sweet, but sometimes he knew how to cut into her like his words were daggers. Her bottom lip trembled a little, threatening to cry but she wasn't going to, or at least not let him see it. "You don't have to be mean," she whispered. "I said I don't know because I don't know. What you said, exactly what you said, was that without Fisher here, you'd "have no reason not to" love me. Which means that if he was here, you'd have a reason not to. If he was here, you wouldn't ever fall in love with me, you'd never have a reason to."
She glowered at him angrily, arms crossed on her stomach as though protecting the babies from Rez, or keeping them from hearing them fighting. "I'm not in love with you right now Rez, so right now it doesn't matter if you care or not. And right now I don't even want to think about it because it doesn't change anything. But nobody likes to feel like they're the second option, like they'd only be picked because what you couldn't have what you really wanted. You of all people should know what that's like, and how horrible it makes you feel."
She wasn't going to cry, not in his room, not until she got to the safety of her bed, until she could pull the covers up over her head. She stepped out of Rez's room, leaving the door open so he could slam it on her or lock her out or whatever he wanted to do. It didn't matter anyway.