It got a little weird after that. John looked at Morgan, and Morgan looked at John, and Andie was sent off to wash her face and cool off, which she greatly appreciated. She found herself relishing in being gently ordered about. In her mind, it meant that the people around her cared.

However, Andie wasn't so foolish not to see that John had sent her elsewhere so he could hound Morgan on what Andie meant by the very last thing she had said.

Standing in the bathroom, slowly wiping a cold damp cloth over her tear-stained cheeks while she stared at her haunted reflection in the mirror, Andie regretted having said anything at all. She was in no position to suggest that Eric wasn't taking care of her. He kept food in the fridge, and he cooked more meals for them than she did. He also had their laundry done more often than she did. And if he wanted to, he could ship her off to leave with her aunt. In his father's will it was perfectly within his right to pass her down to the next relative on the list if he felt he was unable to care for her.

Why he hadn't done that already, Andie didn't know.

"Andie?" A knock sounded on the door and Andie recognized the voice as Morgan's.

"Come in," she called, and Morgan joined her in the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.

"You OK?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Andie smiled apologetically. "Sorry about crying like that. I feel ridiculous."

"No, please don't feel ridiclous." Morgan rubbed her friend's back soothingly. "I kind of explained to John that you've just been missing your mom and that his parent-like lecture probably soothed you some."

Andie laughed bitterly. "Yeah, I guess that's what happened... Maybe I should go apologize to him."

"Don't, it's totally unnecessary. He get's it, really. Did you actually know that he and Eric are friends?"

"Yeah, from school, right?"

Morgan nodded. "They still see each other some nights when they go out. I didn't know that."

"I didn't either." Andie shook her head, surprised. "I'm glad they're friends though. Maybe now he won't mind that I've come here instead of going home."

"Did he want you to come home directly after school or something?"

"No, I just don't know what he was expecting after last night..." she mumbled with a shrug. "I guess I could have texted him to let him know where I am, but... he hasn't texted either, so..." Andie shrugged again.

"Well," Morgan sighed. "Don't worry about it for now. Let's go upstairs. John wants me to study and I told him that's why you were here, so we could study together." She rolled her eyes and Andie stifled a laugh at her friend's irritation for her father-like brother. "He said that if he hears us goofing around then we have to come downstairs and study at the table where he can see us."

"So, we'll just goof around quietly," Andie suggested with a wicked grin, and the two exited the bathroom arm in arm and made their way upstairs to Morgan's bedroom where Andie had the intense desire to do as John told them and study.

Morgan was less willing to listen to her brother however, and within fifteen minutes of going upstairs, they were being ordered back down where they would study in front of John.

Andie had been there for a couple of hours when she noticed the sun starting to sink below the horizon. That's when John started dinner in the kitchen and Andie thought that might be her cue to leave.

But just as she was closing her notebook and capping her pen, a knock to the front door brought everyone's attention up and towards the door.

"I'll get it," John announced, wiping his hands on a white dish towel and casually striding towards the door.

Andie watched, confused and wary, as John opened the door and her step-brother walked in.

"Hey, man," John greeted Eric with a hug and a strong clap to his back. Eric returned the hug and stepped back, his eyes finding Andie's at the round dining room table as if he already knew she was here. He looked at her for just a moment before his eyes returned to John. The two walked into the kitchen together and Andie turned to Morgan and whispered; "what is he doing here?" To which Morgan shrugged and shook her head in reply.

Figuring she might as well stay now, Andie slowly reopened her textbook and her notebook and attempted to focus on her studies once again. Occasionally she would look up to see them looking her way, and John's eyes always looked at Morgan proudly as she remained intently focused on her studies. Eric didn't look at Andie that way, and while she hadn't expected him to, the absense of such affections nagged at her heart.

Dinner was an experience. John wasn't a master-chef, being only twenty, so the four of them enjoyed a spaghetti dinner with salad and buttered bread-and it was perfect.

Despite the tension between Andie and Eric, there was constant laugher and conversation through the table. Rarely was there a moment of silence. Dinner was warm and comforting, and Andie watched Eric relax and enjoy himself; something she wasn't sure she had ever witnessed.

What she didn't know was how Eric observed her as well; and her overall vacant mood shifting to one of happiness with the comforting meal and company that surrounded them.

Eric recognized that this was the thing that they were missing: family. Warm meals cooked fresh, not frozen and warmed in the oven. A messy kitchen to clean up at the end of the day. People to talk to, even if you didn't want to...

As he studied Andie from across the table, Eric felt a pang of guilt strike him as he recalled how young Andie really was, and how much of her childhood she was missing out on due to the loss of her family. Eric grew up with his father; he had a parent in his life and warm home-made meals waiting for him at home.

Andie had nobody to talk to at the end of the day, nobody making warm meals for her, and no parent in her life.

Looking to John, Eric felt pathetic in comparison. Morgan was without her father often, and John sacrifised a lot to be a father-figure to her. And he was good at it. He genuinely cared for his sister.

Feeling nearly sick with himself, Eric struggled to finish his meal.

"Alright," John sighed, leaning back in his chair and folding his napkin onto the table beside his empty plate. "I cooked. Morgan cleans."

"Come with me?" Morgan whispered hopefully to Andie.

"Nuh-uh, she doesn't have to help you if she doesn't want to."

"I don't mind," Andie replied politely. She and Morgan stood, collected the plates, and carried them into the kitchen, leaving Eric and John at the table.

"I have to tell you," John said between sips of coke. "I think what you're doing for Andie is a really decent thing."

"Ah, well," Eric smiled a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "I don't know about that. I'm not nearly as good at it as you are."

"Well..." John shrugged like he partially agreed but wouldn't admit it. "You've had no reason to be a parent-figure to Andie. I just so happen to have years of practice," he said dryly.

"Well, I appreciate you having us over for dinner. You cook up a decent spaghetti. Probably better than your old man. How's your father, anyway?"

"No idea. He hasn't called in a few weeks, and I'm not really sure where he is."

With a shake of his head, Eric frowned bitterly. "I think it's rotten what he did to you and Morgan. Especially Morgan. She's still so young..." he trailed off, recalling his own thoughts on how young Andie was and how badly she needed more than what he was offering her.

"Morgan is OK... at least, I'd like to think so. I'm trying to fill in dad's shoes, but I know that's no easy feat. Nobody can replace your parents, you know?"

"Yeah..."

John eyed Eric quietly for a moment before reaching out and squeezing his shoulder in what he hoped to be a comforting gesture. "How are you doing these days, man?"

Eric offered a shrug, his chest caving in with the weight of guilt, grief, and the newfound stress that grew in place of his once-indifferent attitude towards Andie's well-being.

"It's been tough," he admitted honestly. "Dad dying was bad enough. Then I've made a pretty shitty predicament even shittier by being a lousy care taker for Andie."

"What do you mean?"

"Well," Eric took in a deep breath, leaning forward and placing his elbows on the table. "The shitty predicament was having to transfer all my in-class courses to online courses because I had to come home and take care of a girl who I barely knew. And then I made the shitty predicament shittier by being absolutely lousy to Andie."

John nodded. 'I'll admit, she doesn't seem well... We had a moment earlier today. It's why I called you and invited you over. I thought maybe we could talk about it."

"What moment?" Eric straightened, concerned.

"Listen, I don't want to put myself where I don't belong, but I think Andie has been pretty severely neglected at home since her parents died. And I'm not trying to place the blame on you, my friend. I swear I'm not. I just want to help, because I've been there, and I know what's it like."

"What happened...?"

With a sigh, John leaned back, crossed his arms, and explained. "Morgan was out late last night. Way too late. I got onto her pretty severely for it last night, but when I learned that Andie had also been out late, I couldn't help but say a few things to her this afternoon when she came over after school. I wasn't too harsh about it, but she started bawling nonetheless, and I was under the impression I had scolded her too severely. She ended up apologizing saying something along the lines of...missing...it."

"Missing...what?"

"Someone caring for her. Someone caring enough to notice things like her being out so late..."

"Listen," Eric cut in, sighing heavily as he dragged his hands through his hair. "I did notice it. I got onto her for it last night, just like you got onto Morgan."

"You did?" John confirmed, surprised.

"Yeah, I sent her to her room and everything. She went right away, didn't even fight me. She was really upset though, I could hear her crying in her room afterwards... I think I was too harsh on her."

"From what she said today, I think it's more likely that she preceived your anger as simply that-anger. You were mad at her for staying out and keeping you up, but you weren't angry at her for being irreponsible and putting herself at risk."

Eric didn't know what to say. His mouth opened and closed several times, and he slouched back in his seat. "I..." he tried to speak. "I just... I just don't know her that well, dude. She and I are strangers. I was concerned for her. When she didn't come home, I was picturing terrible things happening to her. I almost called the police!"

"Does she know that?"

"That I almost called the police? No."

"No-that you were concerned for her."

"...No. I just... I demanded to know where she was, and when she was vague about it, I sent her to her room. She was being... I don't know... bratty? It got on my nerves. God, I sound like an ass."

"You sound like a parent," John chuckled, but it was a bitter chuckle that said he knew the feeling and all the stress and exhaustion that came with it. "Listen, man..." John continued, pushing his chair back from the table and leaning forward on his knees. "Andie needs a parent, and it's perfectly alright if you're not in a position to be that. You shouldn't have to be, you're nineteen, and I'm not a decent example to look up to; my situation with Morgan is unique and it shouldn't be taken lightly. That's why I'm suggesting maybe finding somewhere else for her...Someone else who can give her what she needs."

"I couldn't do that... Not after my father left her to me... He trusted me with her, and I... I don't think I could ever forgive myself if I shipped her off somewhere else. I feel like my father's looking down on me, expecting me to do the right thing. And you should see the way Andie looks at me... I think it would kill her if I went back to school and left her in the care of someone else."

John's lips pursed sympathetically. "It's tough, man..."

"It's impossible," Eric replied strongly, his voice rising ever-so-slightly. "I don't know how to be a paren-" A loud crash from the kitchen interrupted Eric, and John shot out of his seat and rushed towards the noise with Eric following closely behind.

Morgan stood by the backdoor, which was no longer on it's hinges, holding a hand-held trough with all of the dirty dishes from their meal. The kitchen door lay flat on the porch just outside, the glass from the window shattered in large fragments on the dusty old wood.

"Morgan Francis!" John bellowed, making everybody in the house jump. Morgan stood frozen with her eyes big and guilty. "You were taking the food outside, weren't you?"

"Yes..."

"Instead of putting it down the disposal like you're supposed to."

"It takes so long, the damn motor chokes every five seconds, I have to put such a little bit down at a time and I have to use one of the damn spatulas and-"

"Watch the language," John warned with one pointed finger. "And whether it's challenging or not, you know better than to take the food outside. It attracts flies which turn into maggots and guess who has to clean that up?"

"You," Morgan answered with an eye-roll.

"And you know that backdoor is broken! I told you not to push it open anymore. You have to use the knob, or else you shove it too hard and the damn thing falls off!"

"Well, why didn't you fix it already? It's not my fault the door is broken!"

"But it is your fault that it's on on the porch right now, with the glass shattered into pieces because I told you that it was broken and I told you not to push it open without turning the knob!"

"Jesus Christ, John! It was an accident!" Morgan hollared back, punctuating her anger with a dramatic display of slamming the trough of dishes on the ground, splashing remnents of pasta and sauce in all directions.

"That's it," John growled, storming forward and yanking Morgan beside him by her arm. "I've had enough, and you've gone too far this time!"

Hauling her from the kitchen, his grip didn't loosen, even as Morgan's attitude dropped immediately. She apologized to her brother, her voice small and childlike, begging him not to do whatever it was he was about to do.

Andie and Eric all but forgot about each other as their eyes remained glued on their two friends. John was ignoring Morgan's desperate pleas while dragging her up the stairs.

Stepping from the kitchen, Eric and Andie followed as close as the living room before stopping short when the sound of Andie's door slamming shut echoed down the stairs.

A moment of silence followed the loud bang, and then Morgan was crying out every few seconds in response to a muffled clapping sound as if John was...

Stunned, Andie covered her mouth with her hands.

...As if John was tanning his sister's hide...