There was something quite touching about his words that tugged my heartstrings. Suddenly, at this moment in time, Theo was no longer the abrupt, annoying idiot I considered him to be. He finally had integrity. He was now a decent guy, or at least a decent big brother who truly cared about another human being. I felt a lump in my throat.
"Oh, get the bloody violins out, you're not going to start blubbing are you?" Theo cocked his eyebrow.
I felt like punching him again. I was having a moment there and he just went and ruined it all. Then my curiosity got the better of me, I asked, "what if her parents came looking for her?"
He snorted, "fat chance of that happening. My parents moved house as soon as the adoption papers came through."
"What if her parents desperately wanted to find her?" I frowned. I could just imagine a young couple knocking on all doors in the middle of the night, trying to see if anyone had their baby girl.
"Well they shouldn't have left her then, should they?" Theo retorted sarcastically. As far as he was concerned, finders keepers. Lottie's parents had their chance and they'd blown it, she's part of the McAllister clan now and no one was going to take her away.
"What if they didn't mean it? They were in a bad position and had no other choice."
Theo shook his head, adamant there was nothing that could be done now. His eyebrows knotted in concentration as he carefully cleaned out my wounds, his lowered eyelashes covered his under-eye area like a little fan. I was almost ashamed to say he had longer eyelashes than me.
He dabbed my hand dry with a clean cloth and used a pair of tweezers to extract the broken glass before wrapping my entire up in a big bow like a present.
Seeing his long fingers move quickly and rather elegantly were a bit of a surprise, he was quite nifty at it as if he has had lots of practice.
"You've done this before haven't you?" I asked.
He smirked at me, "if by 'this' you mean tying a knot, then 'yes' I have."
"Where did you learn it?" I was bemused, to say the least.
He shrugged, rather nonchalantly, "I used to be a Beaver, then a Cub and a Scout, done the whole Duke of Edinburgh Award thing."
"Then what happened to you?" I heard myself blurting out the words before I had the chance to realise how offensive the question was.
His hands stopped moving and he glared at me in annoyance. He did not appreciate what I was trying to accuse him of.
I looked down in embarrassment and tried to break the ice by masking the awkwardness with a deliberate cough. He didn't come across as the type that would help old ladies cross the roads and I wasn't saying that to be unkind because that was what I assumed what Beavers, Cubs and Scouts did. As in helping out in the community.
Theo was probably one of the biggest bullies in Werewolf High, if not THE biggest bully. He couldn't be more different from the Boy Scout image in my head.
"This is a great party." I glanced around the bathroom, pretending to look busy whilst trying to quickly change the subject.
Theo didn't agree nor did he disagree, he merely started washing his hands under the running water.
I made a face inwardly, "Your sister seems really happy. She must be marrying for love." I said, having another go at trying to make small talk.
"She's an idiot." He said, his dark eyes glinting as if he was trying to burn a hole through the sink.
My eyes widened with surprise. Was he not happy for her?
"She's not even 18 yet. She can't even have a glass of champagne at her engagement to celebrate."
"Maybe she doesn't care about the alcohol," I argued. None of us was old enough to have champagne. What was the big deal anyway?
"She had to get my parent's permission."
"Don't we all have to get our parent's permission?" I said. If someone was proposing to me then surely they would have to ask my father for my hand in marriage?
"He doesn't deserve my sister." Theo was beginning to look angry.
"But she's happy." I insisted. Cassandra looked like she was marrying for love. Wasn't that all it mattered? It wasn't Theo that was marrying the guy, why was he getting so worked up over it?
"She'll be crying soon!" Theo was adamant, he made a face of absolute disgust. "He's far too old for her. He's already in his mid-thirties. What kind of a man marries a teenager?"
"..." I didn't know what else to say. I mean he looked older, but not that much older. He could probably pass for late-twenties.
"And it's his second marriage." Theo continued to vent. "And he already has a son from his previous marriage. Let's just say reputation precedes him..."
Theo's every word was like a hammering blow. And he was going from strength to strength. He knew what he was talking about and he wasn't shy about telling the whole world what he thought of his future brother-in-law.
I walked absentmindedly behind Theo as we came out of the bathroom. To say I was shocked was a bit of an understatement. Theo's sister looked like the kind of girl that could get anyone she wanted. Not far off from Helen of Troy, the face that launched a thousand ships.
Why would she choose a divorcee? And to become a stepmother at such young age?
I knew my father never had the intention of remarrying again partly for my sake but also because he wasn't able to let go. According to him, once you've given someone your full heart, there was nothing left for anyone else.
What kind of reputation did Theo mean? I found myself wondering.