Alice grits her teeth and tries very not to raise her voice, with varied success. "Because sometimes having something under control means no one knows about it, Sam! Like surprise birthday parties and— and— I don't know, other things!"

That comparison fell apart too quickly, fuck. She drags her hands over her face. Keep it together, come on. Do not get caught up in how familiar this argument is.

"It's not 'this sort of' anything! Can't you trust me on that?"

Except maybe it is, and maybe he shouldn't, but— she only did it to make sure they were actually relatively safe.