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Jeremiah was in the process of starting dinner, Hellbine and Violetta already situated on their stools and waiting for their occasional treats. The stove was turned off almost immediately when he heard the bang and then Chris's voice.

There was a note of panic it almost seemed like.

He rolled his shoulders, head tilting backwards briefly before he flicked the stove off and disappeared from the kitchen doorway to reappear at the front door. In all honesty he did not understand how- No. Not the time.

"Chris?" A note of concern was in his voice, blue-green eyes studying the blonde as he opened the door. "Is everything alright?"

"No, Alg isn't here. He's not gotten home for the evening ..." Jeremiah blinked again, a hand coming out to grab at Chris's shoulder. "Are you alright? Come inside."

Then Chris is pulled in and the door closed, Jeremiah still keeping an arm on him because clearly something has gone wrong.

Jeremiah goes stock still, though it is not likely for the reason Chris thinks it is. Blue-green eyes, brighter than ever, turn and look at the younger man. The grip shifts and suddenly it's both hands on Chris's shoulders.

"What," he said slowly, a note of disbelief there, "do you mean he took Alg?" A ragged breath escaped and Jeremiah's hands actually went cold. "Like what ... Melany did to him?"

"Why would he-" Jeremiah starts and then stops. "I don't-" He turns then to run his hand across his face but it stops and he holds the hand away. The silver-haired man stares at the wedding ring there and twists it with his thumb.

"Why," he says in a quiet voice, but he knows how Algie feels, has felt it before but that's no one's business but his. The reasons are clear and he can understand them but- "This isn't right. It's- Taking advantage of Algie and-"

"No, you don't understand ... Algie ... he has ..." Chris is given a pained look. "He's not- He doubts himself so much and I try to support him. I don't think that something like this would be good for him. What if it-"

Jeremiah falls silent, thumb still turning the ring on his finger. This clearly pains him and the idea of Thorne having taken Algie, of Algie having been replaced-

"We should have been told," he said softly. "Talked about. Before he-"

"It isn't-" Jeremiah lets out a shaky breath. "This isn't alright." He stops playing with the ring but the hurt is still clearly there and he turns to Chris finally.

"Doing this-" He steps forward and then stops because for once he seems to not know what to do. To comfort. There's too much hurt. "After all that Melany did to him and he takes Alg. Thorne should have-" His voice breaks, cracks a moment before he can speak more.

"He can't be trusted. If this was okay ... Then clearly he has been changed."

"He's been twisted on the inside, even you have to see it ..." Jeremiah looks defeated at admitting this. As if they've lost something because of what Thorne has done.

As if they have failed him as well as having failed Algie.

"Thorne would not have done this before, he would have come to us. Instead he's-" Jeremiah sucks in a harsh breath, raggedly lets it back out. "He's turned into something Melany helped make." Fingers twitch. "... worse he's given in to it."