Lev stares back and mouths "I love you" at him from across the room.

He was not banking on Christine not noticing them and so the fact that she almost certainly has is not a problem! 

Raine does her best to ignore them and focus on what they're supposed to be doing. 

Lev can also gaze adoringly at Raine.

That's very sweet of him but it does actually matter if Christine recommends that she go to another three months of ex-gay camp! 

Unfortunately, Lev cannot read minds, so he does not find out about this reason not to stare at Raine.

She's glad that Lev has decided to stop trying to force himself to be straight and dreading her one-on-one and pretending really hard that she can't see them and today is the same as yesterday was. 

That evening, Lev cuddles Raine until she falls asleep, then gets up and taps Marlo on the shoulder. 

"I'm going to Ron's, you can come."

"I'd love to," he whispers, and follows. 

He holds Marlo's hand. 

"Christine says that gay men, uh, are more likely to rape kids."

"I assume you're planning on asking Ron whether that's true?" 

"He has a library and the Internet, I'm planning on figuring out for myself."

He nods and squeezes Lev's hand. 

"--If it's true we'll figure something out."

"Yeah." He squeezes Lev's hand again. "And more likely doesn't mean certain, and.

I love you." 

"Not having you in my life made me miserable."

The only way Marlo knows how to respond to that is to hug him. 

Hugs are good.

Hugs are good. 

Lev curls up on Marlo's shoulder on the ride over, and disappears into the library as soon as they get there. 

Marlo holds him on the ride over and, as soon as he disappears into the library, goes and finds Asher. 

"How is Raine doing?" Asher says immediately.

(He does not look okay.)

He debates adjectives for a moment and then lands on, "She's coping. 

She's eating more but she still hates it and she's stopped talking in group. She hasn't had to see Harry since the day after it happened. She takes a lot of showers — apparently the ones at night were just so she wouldn't be interrupted when she was shaving but I don't think anyone shaves their legs twice a day — she's been cuddling Lev at night, Christine let her —" 

"--I need to give her a hug."