It had been a long day — too long, and the tension that had been simmering between you and Theo finally erupted into a full-blown argument. The two of you stood in the empty Astronomy Tower, far from curious ears. The wind howled around you, cold and biting, but it didn’t seem to cool either of your tempers.

"Do you ever think before you act?" Theo spat, his dark eyes blazing with frustration. His voice, usually calm and measured, was now anything but. "You’re completely reckless! You just—"

“I’m reckless?!” you shouted back, fists clenched at your sides. “You’re the one who never listen to me!”

“I do listen,” he growled, switching to rapid-fire Italian, his native tongue, that made your frustration mount even more. You couldn’t understand a single word he was saying, but the harshness in his voice made your heart pound.

He ran a hand through his dark curls, turning away from you as if the very sight of you frustrated him. He muttered something else in Italian, something sharp and biting, and your blood boiled.

“Speak in a language I actually understand, for Merlin’s sake!” you yelled, but he was already turning back to you, gesturing wildly.

“This is what I mean!” His words cut through the cold air, his hand pointing directly at you. “You. Are. Crazy.”

Your mind blanked. The heat of the moment overtook you, and before you could stop yourself, you lashed out with the only thing that came to your tongue. “You know what? You’re just like your father.”

The words hung between you like a curse, freezing the argument in place. You saw it the moment they hit him—his face drained of color, his usual composed expression shattering into something raw and hurt.

His voice, when it came, was low and dangerous, barely above a whisper. “How dare you.”

You swallowed hard, realizing instantly the weight of what you had just said. His father was cruel, the kind of man Theo spent his whole life trying not to become. Comparing him to that was a mistake.