When Gigi came to meet William for dinner after her last class of the day, he was so occupied with his phone that he didn't seem to notice her approaching. She got a glimpse of Lizzie's face on the screen before he glanced behind his shoulder, then whipped his phone out of sight.

"Sorry," she said, frowning.

"It's fine." That was his knee-jerk response to anything he didn't want to talk about. And she wouldn't push him. Ever since the end of the Domino demo, she'd kept her promise not to bring up Lizzie. Well, okay, maybe she'd mentioned her once or twice, but she was done with that. Even though William was being a complete idiot about it.

And that look on his face when he gazed at Lizzie's picture. He really seemed to be in pain. She thought everything was going so well between them, but now? Maybe shoving him into a room with her wouldn't work this time. Maybe – she frowned, hating the thought – maybe she was wrong about Lizzie after all. That latest video, when Lizzie said they weren't friends and he was just some guy, was kind of making her doubt again.

Maybe, even if Gigi forced the two of them together, Lizzie would have to awkwardly explain she appreciated his attentions and all, but she really didn't feel that way. That might be worse for William than not being around her at all.

He'd done so much to try to protect Gigi from pain. It'd be nice if she could return the favor for once.

"Hey, if you want," she said carefully, "I can take down those pictures. From the tour of the city. Just, get rid of them."

William looked at her, first startled, then serious. "I appreciate the gesture. But no, I wouldn't want you to do that."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

She paused, then said, "But if it's hurting you –"

He shook his head. "There's nothing hurtful in the picture itself. I am merely caught up in what might have been. That would happen with or without a visual reminder. The pictures themselves –" He thought for a moment, then said, "I think I would actually call them a symbol of hope."

"Hope," she repeated with a smile. "I like that."

Gigi didn't bring up Lizzie after that, but she did what she could in small, subtle ways. She called William after a new video went up - not to talk about the video, but just for a nice brother-sister chat. She enlisted Fitz and made sure he wasn't eating all his meals by myself or spending too much time alone and brooding. What else could she do She couldn't win this battle for her brother any more than he could win her battle over the tainted memory of swimming pools.

The day he was leaving for Chicago, she hugged him extra long and hard before he headed for the airport. She could tell he was still sad, still hurting. But he'd be okay. Just like she would.

It was only a few weeks later that Gigi realized that, for once, she had taught her big brother something instead of the other way around. It was a good feeling.