Not a pretty sight

Listening to Ryan, Eli holds his tongue a little longer. He could sense the confusion in his sister and he saw the pain in her eyes, which in turn, caused a pain in his own heart. He couldn't stand to see her hurting - it was the worst kind of torture for him. 

Watching her carefully, one of Eli's worst fears seemed to be surfacing. Ryan didn't even have to say it... she wouldn't hurt like she did, if she didn't still have feelings for Alec. How deep those feelings ran, Eli didn't know. But they were there, and he knew it. 

Realizing, though, that Ryan really was close to tears, he rises slowly from his chair. Coming over to the couch, he reaches down and lifts up Ryan's feet before sitting down, then letting her legs rest over his lap. He wriggles her knee teasingly, just like he used to when they were kids and he'd wanted to annoy her with tickling. 

With a deep sigh, he leans his head back on the couch, letting his mind think before he ran off at the mouth. He knew Ryan didn't deserve his wrath no matter how mad he was. "Please don't cry," he requests. "'Cause then I want to cry, and watching me do that is not a pretty sight." The attempt to lighten the mood was lame, he knew. But it was all he had.

"I'm sorry, Sis... just that this is happening. I wish I could make it better. I wish I could... erase everything that happened. I wish I could..." He bites his tongue along with another sigh. "Ah well... you know how I feel about Alec."

Giving her leg a pat, he falls quiet again for several minutes. "If he upsets you this much though... I mean it about me stopping it. I don't want him to hurt you any more than he already has."

Grinning, Jason isn't so sure he believes Misty that he always knew what to say, but if she thought so, he'd let her and... it did make him feel good. Watching her with the tea, he also rises slowly. Joining her at the counter, he takes one of the teabags, letting it bob up and down in the steaming water. "TV sounds alright as long as Alec doesn't mind." 

"I don't," comes a mumbled voice from the living room. 

Jason can't help his laugh. "Stop eavesdropping." He knew his previous conversation with Misty had been much quieter, so he didn't fear Alec hearing them talk about him. "I thought you were asleep," he hollers into the next room. 

"Not hardly. Not with this headache." 

Jason smiles and winks at Misty, picking up two of the cups and heading for the living room. "Well maybe this will help." 

Alec props himself up and accepts the hot drink, setting aside the ice pack for now. "Thanks."

"Mm-hmm." Jason looks around for a moment, glancing to the couch, to the floor, to the easy chair and back again. "Well... Misty, I guess we're stuck." He chooses the big comfy chair, careful not to spill the tea. "You're just gonna have to sit on my lap." 

Alec snickers, not moving his legs from being stretched out over the couch. "Now this I gotta see."