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Maebe felt like the floor had been ripped out from under her. Part of why she'd never gotten close to anyone is the safety of staying at a distance, and never getting hurt. But there was a smaller, less known part that was scared of how bad she was at caring about other people. And then Otto decided to entrust her with information as devastating as the stuff he'd just told her in messages on twitter, about how he'd been adopted (which she knew) and how Jude was his biological brother (which she hadn't known) and how scared he was of knowing why his parents had given him away, but not Jude (which was what triggered her sudden desire to see him face to face).

She was at his door within minutes, opening it without knocking and closing it behind her. She didn't lock it, didn't need to. She wasn't here for sex, she was here because she needed to be.

She was going to be what he needed. She had to try.

Maebe had never seen Otto look so small and frightened in his life. She felt her heart ripping in half from the pain of knowing that there was something bothering him this much, and she was about to make him lay it all out bare for her. A little part of her told her she would have been better off just returning to the kind of girl who didn't care.

She didn't respond to his greeting. She just sat down right beside him, looked at him for a handful of seconds, and then gently pulled him all the way into her arms, and lap, to hold him securely in her embrace.

It should start with a hug, she told herself. A hug to remind him that she loved him, and he was never alone anymore.

"Of course you're okay. You're the strongest boy I know. That's why I love you." She kissed his forehead, and brushed her hands through his hair. "But I didn't want to hear about this really important stuff through the internet. So I'm here now, and we can talk about it." Whether he wanted to, or not.

"A long time ago, your parents made a decision. You don't want to know why, because you're scared that the answer is going to be something you don't like. And that's okay. It's in the past, it happened when you were a baby. None of that matters, and none of it is going to change who you are today."

Knowing about his past wasn't worth the trouble. But Jude was his brother, and that wasn't necessarily the past, anymore.

"But your world is Deus, now. It's Hunters and monsters, and fighting side by side with the people who live here. You're scared of what Jude might bring about from your past. But maybe you should focus more on what he could do to your future."

"Ohhh." Maebe understood the problem a lot more, once he'd explained it. Her body curled in closer, and she rested her head against his. "I get that. You're worried Jude is going to reinforce the idea that family is s**t." She couldn't even argue it. To her, family was s**t. And he needed to know that.

"I know I told you that my mother died, and my dad ran off and left me. So, you know I get it." She let out a soft, breathy chuckle, but there was no smile to go along with it. "But I've got other reasons to never trust family. Or anyone, really. I was doing a good job of it, too, before you and Cami."

She bent in, and pinched his arm. "Damn the both of you."

The lightness of that moment pushed away the dark, pained look that had touched her eyes for a moment. "But if anyone is worth trusting, I'd say Jude is. I'm kind of glad I know him well enough to be able to share that with you. Otherwise, I would just say ******** him, not worth the trouble."

Her eyes lifted to finally meet Otto's. "Jude's worth the trouble."

"I think so." Maebe murmured, after a moment of thought. "It would be kind of nice. I guess he deserves to know just as much as you do, even if the two of you do nothing with that information. I'd want to know if somebody was my sister."

A day which would never come.

"Or," She hedged, realizing another option was available. "I guess, I could tell him if you didn't want to. Maybe get a feel for what he thinks, and whether it's information he's happy to hear." And she realized she was offering this - not because she wanted to, but because it was the only option that gave Jude the knowledge he deserved, without the chance that her Otto would have to be hurt.

She was protecting him.

"You know something, Otto?" She murmured, a thread of amused annoyance in her voice. "If it wasn't already obvious I loved you, I think now would be a good moment of proof."

"Hah, oh. Wow. That's going to be a lot to take in. I almost can't wait, I want to see if I somehow get his face to register an emotion." Maebe snickered at the idea. "At least there's one thing you'll never have to worry about, with Jude. He's not going to get all affectionate with you two. Like, huggy or anything. His girlfriend might. But I'm sure you don't mind pretty girls hugging you."

Her arms squeezed tighter as she said it. "But I might."

So she was going to tell him. She started to plan out the best way to handle that kind of talk.. and wondered if she could slip it in their conversation during another spar.

He might take it out on her. Or he might just stop. She had no idea how Jude would respond to the news that he had a brother, and a cousin. But she was strangely excited to find out.

"I'll tell him. Tomorrow, even. And I'll tell you immediately how it went."

Otto's prayers would go unanswered.

"Fine, but listen." She disentangled herself from him, hands slipping out of his hair and off of his body. "If I get fat, you are not dumping me. It's not my fault we eat so much junk food." She pushed herself off of the couch, with no small amount of suggestive pressing against his body, and then sauntered back to the kitchen.

"Whatever we're eating, you have to take all of the chocolate or oil. I am not losing this face to zits. I am too pretty for zits."

And too modest.

Since he couldn't see her, the kitchen was quiet for a few minutes. Then, cresting over the couch and back into his line of sight, Maebe bent over to look at him, an eyebrow cocked and an unimpressed look on her face.

"Did you expect me to make you something?" She drawled out incredulously. "I could have sworn I told you not to get used to that."