“Don’t change the story to make it look like you did nothing wrong. I know Markus, he doesn’t do drugs, never did! You did this to him. You ruined almost everything, you ruined me, and I don’t even understand how, Skylar. You aren’t that person. You’ve changed, and if it is the pills, then do yourself a favor and get clean.”

“I’m not doing pills!”

“We all know you are,” she yelled back, and her heart just broke. As much as she wanted to be there for her sister, love her, she couldn’t. Skylar had caused too much pain. Pills or not, Skylar had broken her. With tears running down her face, Mekena said, “And the thing is, Skylar, you’ve lost me. You pushed me away, broke my heart. And I know that right now that doesn’t matter to you, but one day it will. So if you needed a wake-up call, here it is.” She choked on her words, her sobs escaping her mouth as her tears fell off her chin onto her chest. She couldn’t believe this person who was staring back at her was her sister. The same person she’d loved and idolized for so damn long. She didn’t know this person, nor did she ever want to know her. “I hate you,” she cried, shaking her head as Skylar looked away and her parents tried to protest. “I hate this version of you, and until you find my sister, don’t contact me. Don’t even breathe my name. We are done.”

With that, she turned, ignoring everyone calling her name as she slammed the door and went down the front stairs to her car. Before she could reach it, though, bile rushed up her throat and then she was puking her brains out beside the house. Holding on to the house that used to be her safe haven, she closed her eyes as her body heaved. She hoped she could puke out the pain, get it out of her, but it was still there once she finally stopped retching. As she stared at the ground, she shook her head, unable to make sense of what just happened. What she’d heard.

It was all so insane.

And above all, how was she supposed to face Markus after everything that happened? It was her sister who made him a victim. It was Mekena who was completely awful to him. How and why would he even want to look her in the eye? Talk to her? Walking toward her car, she closed her eyes before laying her head on the roof of the car. She sucked in a deep breath, wiping her face and the snot from her nose. Everything hurt. Her stomach, her heart, her soul. She didn’t know what to do.

She didn’t even know how to face him.

But most of all, she wanted to hug him. She wasn’t sure if he’d even let her.

And that hurt her more than knowing her sister was a pill-popping whore.

When a pair of arms came around her, she froze until she saw that it was Libby. Wrapping her arms around her aunt, Mekena cried into her chest as her body shook with her sobs.

“Oh, Kennie, I’m so sorry,” she said into her hair, holding her close and kissing the side of her head.

“I just don’t understand.”

“That’s the thing, honey, there is no understanding addicts. They’re sick,” she tried, but that didn’t make Mekena feel any better.

Pulling back, she looked up at her aunt and shook her head. “I should worry for her. I should feel like I need to fix her. Or even want to fix her, but I don’t. I’m so mad at her for what she did to him. You should have heard his voice, Libby. He was broken. At one point, I thought he was going to cry. She hurt him. Messed with his head, and now it all makes perfect sense. He’s been so fucked up from this debacle that he hasn’t been playing the way he used to. I feel like it’s my fault.”

“Mekena, how…how in the world is it your fault?”

“I don’t know, she’s my sister.”

“But it is not your fault, and he knows it.”

“I just feel horrible. I feel like I should have known, like I should have given him a chance to tell me. But I just ran,” she said, her voice breaking and her tears rushing down her face. “I wasn’t there for him.”

Cupping her face, Libby kissed her nose. “Sweet girl, you reacted like any other woman would. This is all fucked up, and it’s gonna take time for everyone to heal, but in no way is this your fault.”

“I can’t believe this,” she cried, rubbing her nose and closing her eyes. “I just don’t get it.”

“I don’t either.”

“I don’t even know what to do.”

“Well, we gotta go to work. So you have time to figure it out.”

Swallowing hard, she felt her lip wobble. “I wanna hug him and tell him I’m sorry.”

“I’m sure we will see him, and you can do just that.”

“What if he pushes me away?”

Libby shrugged. “Then at least you tried.”

Mekena nodded, though that didn’t help or make her feel better. She was confused, she was heartbroken for Markus, and she didn’t know how this mess would ever be fixed.

But deep inside her, she knew it had to be.

She just hoped he’d let her help.

“No way.”

“Yeah.”

“No fucking way.”

“Yeah, I stood right there, heard it from her mouth.”

Shaking her head, Baylor leaned back in her chair as she exhaled loudly, patting Dawson’s butt. Her expression was blank, her eyes wide as she just kept shaking her head. Markus felt the exact same way. He was horrified by the whole thing. Violated and hurt, but in a way, he was thankful he knew the truth. Skylar hadn’t held back the details, and he felt he’d needed that to move on. He felt like he should feel more…pain, maybe…or something like that, but really, it was just worry. He hadn’t wanted Mekena to hear all that. He’d wanted to explain it himself, hold back some of the gory details, but she heard it all. That worried him. He wanted to know what she was thinking, what had happened once she went inside, and above all, what that meant for them.

If there even was a them?

Should there be a them?

Fuck, he really wanted a them.

“Are you okay?”

Looking back to Baylor, he shrugged. “Yeah, I mean, I guess. I don’t know,” he said, breathing out slowly. “I feel like I should feel more. I mean, I feel dirty, and I’m sure that’s to be expected. And I feel violated. Again, expected. But should I be broken? Or something like that? I don’t know. I’m just mad at her, and I hate her for what she did. I wanted to smack that smug look off her face, Baylor, and I’ve never wanted to hurt a woman. She was just such a bitch.”