He ate another spoonful. It kept him from sighing at her. He was supposed to be the quiet one of the two of them. Except when he made her angry. The way she was eating her ice cream made him think he hit a sore spot.

There was never an easy way out of anything anymore.

He closed up his carton. His voice stayed calm and level despite the swirl of emotions inside him. "Finish up eating, take the cat, and go to bed."

Marcelo had some cleaning to do. There was still bad Thai food on the wall. He also had to go hide Stephanie's cell phone, computer, and what not. None of it was what he expected to do at 4 in the morning, but it was, at the very least, a change from how things had been for months.