Just Remember to Breathe (Thompson Sisters)

her life.”
    I sniffled. “Okay, new rule. If I’m about to ask you something that will make me start crying when I hear the answer, um, can you veto the question?”
    He smiled, gently, and said, “If you want.”
    “Your turn, then.”
    The waitress showed up then, and brought us our food. And… let me tell you. I had actually underestimated how much he ordered. She had to bring two trays. Seriously. He tried to reorganize the plates a little, and ended up taking three quarters of the table. Pulling the pancakes toward him, he poured about ten thousand calories worth of syrup and butter on them, then started eating.
    After swallowing he said, “Okay. What’s your favorite thing to do now that you’re in New York?”
    I took a small bite of toast while I thought. Then I frowned. What was my favorite thing? I had things I liked to do, for sure. Kelly and I going out together. Going to the Butler Library. Picnicking in Riverside Park. What else? It’s not that I hadn’t enjoyed my freshman year in college, I really did. It’s just that… nothing stuck out that I could tag as a favorite thing. Except one. And that was sitting in Doctor Forrester’s office. With Dylan.
    I frowned, then said, “I can’t answer that one.”
    He widened his eyes and grinned. “You’re kidding me. That’s not in the rules.”
    “Screw the rules,” I said. “The only answer I can give is a lie.”
    “Why?”
    “Pick some other question, soldier boy.”
    “I’ll get an answer one way or another. You can’t tell me you’ve been in New York for a year and you still haven’t come up with anything you love doing.”
    “I can tell you anything I want.”
    “You set the rules of this game, Alex. Not allowed to lie.”
    “Nothing says I have to answer, though.”
    He shook his head, then laughed. “I’m going to be obsessed with this.”
    “Why?”
    “Because in all the time I’ve known you, I have never seen you change the rules of anything mid-game. This is just… mind-blowing.”
    I wanted to growl at him. Instead I ate a bite of my eggs, then said, “If I answer, you have to promise to just forget I said it.”
    He was thoroughly enjoying this. God.
    “All right,” he said. “My short term memory sucks anyway.”
    I stifled a laugh, then said, “Okay. Then the truth is, the time we’ve been working together in Doctor Forrester’s. That’s the answer.”
    He blinked, the smile slipping for a fraction. I couldn’t figure out what his expression meant, because if I’d seen a picture of it, I would have guessed abject terror. But that only lasted a moment, and then he said, “I don’t remember any question or answer, so I get another one, right?”
    “Dylan! That’s not fair!”
    Now he was really grinning.
    “Fine,” I said, trying not to burst out laughing. He looked so happy.
    “Okay,” he said. “Now I’m finally getting somewhere.”
    I chuckled. I couldn’t help it.
    “Let’s see… Kelly’s still your roommate here, I’m thinking. Tell me all about the last time you two went out. I want to know about your life here. What did you guys do?”
    Jesus . He had a knack for asking heavy questions, didn’t he? But I found myself telling him the story. Of our night out, and how Randy had grabbed my arm, and she pepper sprayed him. I left out all discussion of Dylan, of course. I also left out the background between me and Randy, including the fact that I’d known him since middle school, and especially the fact that he’d tried to rape me.
    “Okay, wait a minute, I don’t understand. I get it that the guy was coming on too strong, but why did she pepper spray him?”
    Suddenly I was blinking back tears again.
    “Oh, shit,” he said. “I’m sorry. Whatever it is, you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”
    I bit my lower lip, then whispered, “He tried to rape me last spring.”
    Everything about Dylan’s demeanor changed in an instant. He went from relaxed, enjoying himself, then concerned, but after the word “rape” came out of my mouth, he was sitting up straight in his chair. His face had gone cold, rage in his eyes like I’d never seen before. He was shaking.
    “What did you say his name was?” he asked, his voice very low.
    “It doesn’t matter,” I said.
    “Yes. It does.”
    “Why?”
    “Because if I ever see him, I’m going to put him in a fucking hospital. For a long time.”
    He was serious. Really serious. I had no doubt that if Randy