About half an hour later, Dusty and I were standing by the door of the garage, about to leave. We didn't say much afterwards. We just stood there, awkwardly smoking cigarettes.

"So, like..." she started, staring at her shoes. "Are we... Dating now?"

"If you want us to be."

"I do," she said, kissing me on the cheek.

"Then we are." I smiled.

"Great," she said. She dropped her cigarette and stomped it into the ground. She put up the hood of her jacket - It had been drizzling for a little and was starting to get heavier. "Well," she said, looking at me. "I better be going."

"Yeah, me too," I replied, blowing out smoke. I flicked my cigarette out the door. "I had a fight with my brother before I got here. I should probably go talk to him."

"I'm always fighting with my sister," she said, making a disgusted face. "Siblings always fight."

"No, you don't understand," I said, looking up at the ceiling. "He knows what I've been doing with you."

"Oh." She shoved her hands in her pockets and sighed. "If my older sister knew, she'd beat my ass. If my little sister knew, she'd be so disappointed. And if my dad knew, he'd literally kill me. And if my mom knew..." She sighed again. "She's probably rolling over in her grave..."

I looked over at her, surprised. She'd never mentioned this before. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," she said. She pushed her hair out of her face. "It was a few years ago. I'm over it." She shrugged.

"What happened?" I asked. "I mean, if you wanna tell me."

"It was so sudden." She walked forward a little, then turned to face me again. "I don't even know. I guess she had a heart attack." She shrugged again. "I never got the full story. Dad never wanted to talk about it, and all Kathleen said was that Mom wasn't coming home. I understood death, she didn't need to say that to me." She looked at me before adding, "Kathleen is my older sister."

"Sucks..." was all I could muster. It was so sad, I felt so bad for her - If anyone in my family died, I probably wouldn't be able to handle it. I briefly wondered if they would feel the same if I died. I guess so, judging from the way Mike acted earlier.

"Yeah," she said, nodding. "Dad still won't talk about it to this day. I mean, he has a girlfriend, and she's really nice and everything, but to him and everyone else, no one can replace my mom."

"I know what you mean," I said quietly. "If anyone in my family ever died, all hope would be lost. Especially if my mom died. She's the organizer of everything. Without her, our family would crumble."

"I would say you're lucky that you still have her, but it doesn't even matter anymore - I'm over it, and I'm numb. I don't really care anymore when people talk about their moms. I know I'd be doing all the same stuff with my mom, so why should it matter?"

"Yeah," I said, not knowing what else to say.

"Well... I better go," she said. "Bye, Aaron." She kissed me slowly before walking out.

I waited a few minutes before following. Will walked in just before I left. We said hey, but nothing else. I left quietly.

I walked home slowly. I didn't know what awaited me as far as it goes with Mike. But I sure wasn't prepared for what it was.

I walked in to my parents and Mike sitting on the couches, discussing something quietly.

"Aaron," my dad said sternly. Mike and Mom silenced themselves.

"What's going on?" I asked, concerned. I wasn't sure what to think.

"Oh, Aaron!" my mom cried. She walked over and pulled me into a tight hug before bursting into tears. "I love you, sweetie."

"I love you, too, Mom. What's going on?" I repeated.

"I told them," Mike said.

"You what?!" I yelled.

"I had to!" Mike yelled back. "You don't see what you're doing to yourself!"

"I can't fucking believe this!" I yelled, turning to walk back out the door.

"Aaron, don't curse," my mom said. "Please, just sit down and-"

"Aaron, if you don't get your ass back in here right now, we're going to send you to rehab!" my dad yelled.

"I don't fucking need rehab! I'm fine!" I yelled back, turning towards them. I'd never been so mad in my life.

"Yes, you do!" Mike said, obviously very angry. "You don't know what you're doing!"

"Yes I do!" I said. "I fucking told you already, Mike! I started this, now I'm going to stop it!"

"You don't know that!" my mom screamed. My dad and Mike shut their mouths quickly. "You don't know that," she repeated, quieter this time. "You don't know what'll happen. And the sad reality is, you probably won't get clean."

"Fuck this shit, it's my life and I'll do what I choose!" I started to storm up the stairs.

"You're gonna end up tearing this family apart, Aaron! And then you'll be sorry!" my dad shouted after me.

I went to my room and slammed and locked the door. I ripped off my jacket and threw it across the room. I climbed into bed and threw the covers over my face. I stared at my phone screen - 8:45. I decided to go to sleep. I threw my phone onto the nightstand and screamed into my pillow.

I was so over this shit.