"I believe you." Theo stepped back into him and pulled him close. "I believe you and I trust you. We will do this and we will do it together. Just...don't be reckless. And in turn I'll be more mindful in my interactions with her. We have each other right? Neither of us are alone to do this without the other anymore. I'm here to help support you and you're here to help me figure out what you can help with."

He gave him another squeeze and rubbed his arms. "And I hope it never comes to it but...I'm glad there's somewhere safe for you."

Theo gave a slight side eye of mischief though. "They may night kiss your behind though. That's my privilege and I'm not sharing it."

Theo was right. He was right about all of it. Fletch had been so confident in the plan that he'd forgotten where he was, and under whose thumb. And in Theo's shoes, he'd be more than hurting — he'd be livid. He'd be screaming. He gazed at Theo now with a sick and mournful guilt like he might break down right there in front of the man. "I'm sorry. I'm just so used to...fighting. I forget you're not him, sometimes. But...you're right. I won't. I won't do it. That's a promise. But you've got to help me find another way. And I'm not leaving, alright? I'm not. It would break me too."

Fletcher glanced at the door and back again as though worried that the Baron would come marching in, summoned by the mere mention of him. "And if the worst ever happens, and your dad tries anything, he's got another thing coming. That's another promise. I'm not scared of whatever he thinks he can do to me. I don't give a flying fuck about my reputation here. These nobles can come to I'káa, lose an eye to Big Guy, and then kiss my arse."

He sighed tiredly and allowed Fletcher to step away from him, his hands dropping to his sides. When he spoke it was with complete calmness filled with traces "And I'm asking you not to do it for me. I'm saying that it makes me feel worse than if you had cheated willingly. I mean, would you be alright if I slept with Edwina and said it was for your sake? That I wanted nothing to do with it but it was the fastest way I could protect you? That my heart belongs to you but I haven't body freely for your sake to another?

"It doesn't feel good to me. Not for that matter does outing you and putting you at that risk. This house is dangerous enough as it is. One wrong word and my father will see you gone and your life made hell. I will not survive it Jack. I will not survive you being driven apart from me. That is how deeply I care for you. Is it truly so awful of me to feel jealous and afraid for you over such a thing?"

"I'm only saying it because it's the truth. If I want something, I take it when it's offered, Theo. Always have. Deserving it's another matter. You can't look at me and then look at you and argue otherwise."

At Theo's mention of Neal, he drew back. The sour look returned. "Well from where I'm standing, you don't have to sit there and watch like I do with you and her," he snapped. "What, you think I want to? The thought makes me sick. It's the quickest way to get him to think I'm a vulnerability. I need his guard down and I need him to think he's winning. That's it. That's all it is. Don't turn this into me sleeping around on you. I'm doing it for you."

He shook the other man slightly with a frown. "Why do you get to say you are undeserving but I don't? Why don't get to yourself down and I'm not? Do not speak poorly of my beloved. You hurt my heart when you do."

His hands slid down to take Fletcher's and hold them close. "I do get it. I think I've just spent so much time burying myself that I accept even these closeted moments without question or trying to long for more. But I do long for more. And I do understand how you feel...it is how I feel about...about you gathering information from Neal using certain...methods."

It was Fletcher's turn to look horrified. "What? No. Fuck no, Theo. That's not — that's not it at all, I just...she doesn't deserve you. And I'm not saying I do. I don't. I know I don't, but it just eats at me when she — "

Oh. Was that it? He swallowed and turned his head aside again, eye darting back and forth, like he was desperately avoiding the truth. He took a deep breath and let it out sharply before looking the man dead in the eye again. "I know it's pretend, alright? I do. But from the ball onward, it's fucked with me. It's not just the signing. It's that you can touch her like that, and smile at her like that, and it's for everyone to see. And here we are hiding in closets and sneaking and that's after we even let ourselves have this."

Theo looked back at him horrified, dropping his hands to the other man's shoulders. "Of course not," he replied in complete shock and incredulity.

"You learned to sign for me. I did not ask you to. We were not already as we are. You did it simply because it was part of my life and it is important to me.

"She meanwhile had to be asked. She does it for show and clout to put on a performance for her poor, deaf fiancé. She cannot even be bothered to learn or improve on her own. She makes the same basic mistakes and uses every opportunity to turn it to her advantage.

"Of course it's upsetting to you. All you've done and I go and teach a woman who hates me and flirts...flirts in the same room as me as if I have not eyes instead of ears. And I didn't even consider how it must feel for you."

His brow furrowed and he bit his own lip anxiously. "Do I truly come off as the type to be so cruel to you? Do I condescend and patronize you like my father?" He asked not accusingly but in deep fear and concern of the answer. "Am I him?"

Fletcher squinted at him suspiciously. "You taking the piss right now? This a joke?"

He hung his head some in shame but nodded at Fletcher's words. He was right. He needed to be better. He needed to trust. Out of everyone Fletcher had never betrayed him, had never done him wrong, and had always advocated for him. If anyone was going to stay, believe in him, maybe even love him, it would be Fletcher.

His expression softened further and unconsciously he reached up to cup Fletcher's cheeks. "Oh my heart you're right and I didn't consider. I won't teach her further. She's terrible anyway so our conversations are not at risk but I can see how our special thing could be irritating to watch for you. I too was left feeling uncomfortable watching the two of them or having to touch her in ways I only want to touch you. Can you forgive me for my thoughtlessness?"

Fletcher didn't entirely relax into the embrace, but he did return it. He let Theo blubber for a while as he kept his good eye on the man's door. When they drew apart, though, he focused on Theo alone, and his expression grew severe when his love referred to himself as worthless. "Your people are the broken ones. Not you, love. It's them. They're rotten. And I know rotten, believe me, but these cunts — they make me want to burn things. That's their words in your head. It's not mine. So stop putting their lies in my mouth."

Fletch leaned back a bit and crossed his arms, wrestling with his thoughts and impulses. He looked to the side and ground his jaw as he thought. When he said what had been eating at him, it came out abruptly like he'd lost the war with his restraint. "It's her," he said. "It's you and her signing. It's her knowing anything about it and pretending to care. It's us losing a perfectly good way to talk on the sly with her in the room. And...it's watching you with her while she learns," he added gruffly. "Wish you'd never let her in on it. She doesn't care at all."