"You couldn't have known—"
"No." He shook his head again, firmly. "Non. I don't want to hear that. I know I couldn't have known. That's not the point." He was quiet for a moment. "The point is that I went home with a stranger that night. While Grand-père was—" He stopped. A muscle moved in his jaw. "While he needed me, I was in some man's apartment getting thoroughly fucked." He pressed the back of his hand to his mouth for a second. "If I had just come straight home. If I had just answered the phone. Maybe I would have—"
"Elgin." I moved my chair closer and put my arms around him.
He let me. That was how I knew how bad it was — Elgin always had something to say. The fact that he just sat there and let me hold him without a single word said everything.
After a moment, his head dropped
