"Okay."
"Is that bad?"
"I don't know. I'm trying to figure out if it's bad."
"Tyler."
"I'm not mad. I'm trying to be honest. If you're telling me the bedroom thing is the real thing and the rest is just extra information, that's one conversation. If the leaving part of you is the one calling the shots and the bedroom thing is what it's settling for tonight, that's a different conversation, and I want to know which one we're having."
"It's the second one."
"Okay."
"Is that bad?"
"You already asked me that."
"Yeah. I'm asking again."
He takes a second.
"It's not bad," he says. "It's scary. But it's not bad. I'd rather know."
"You'd rather know that I'm halfway out the door."
"You're not halfway out the door, Red. You're standing in this hallway at ten at night, telling me you're scared, and you've come up with a way to not leave, and you're asking me to do it with you. That's not halfway out. That's the opposite of halfway out."
I'm crying. I didn't notice it starting.
"You're being really nice about this," I say.
"I'm not being nice. I'm being honest. Don't make me a saint; I'm pissed off too."
"You don't sound pissed off."
"That's because if I sound pissed off, you'll think I'm pissed off at you, and you'll leave faster."
That makes me laugh a little. A wet laugh.
"Yeah," I say. "Probably."
"So I'm being calm. On purpose. Because I want you to stay, and I'm trying to make staying easier than leaving."
"Tyler."
"That's the truth, Red. I don't have a strategy. I just don't want you to go."
"I'm not going."
"For now."
"For now."
He nods. Looks at the floor, and then back up.
"Okay. Separate rooms until the hearing. Ms. Collins to the lawyer. I can do that part."
"Thank you."