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“Thank you.” I hold my palm out, waiting for him to hand it over.

“That doesn’t mean I’m giving it back. Go on.” He waves me inside. When I try to close the door on them, he shoves his boot in the jamb.

I throw my hands up and storm inside.

I’m slamming stuff around my room when they join me. “Get out of my room!” I yell.

He walks over to my bed and empties my purse in the middle of it. The white pills fall, sprinkled amongst my beauty supplies.

“You know Ash can’t be around this shit,” Dan admonishes calmly.

“Ash isn’t here, is he? Besides Ash isn’t my responsibility,” I tell him, my tone clipped and my chin raised high.

JD sighs loudly, his gaze roaming over my space. He walks over to my desk. “What’s all this?”

I try to shove him away with my hip. “It’s nothing.” I grab the trash can and scoop all of my unsent letters into the trash.

Jackson, Ash’s brother-in-law, knocks on the door jamb.

“Why are you all in my house?!” I shout.

He crosses his arms over his chest. “I see you haven’t opened any of the packages Ash has been sending. They’re piling up on the kitchen table.”

“Get out!” I shriek, pointing at the door.

Jackson ignores me, walking toward the bed. He picks all of the oxys out of the pile, and then he sets them on the floor and crushes them beneath his boot. “I think you were right, JD. We have no choice but to try Dirk’s suggestion.”

The other two men nod in agreement.

“None of you are my parents. You can't tell me what to do.” I rush over to the bed and angrily shove my personal things back into my purse. “Just give up already.”

When everything is where it belongs, I flop face first onto the mattress.

The men leave but hover just outside my door, speaking quietly. I’m so tired of this. Of them.

The oxys begin to take full effect, and a gentle warmth slides over my body. That’s nice. I blindly reach for the blanket at the end of my bed, dragging it over myself. I can’t wait to fall asleep. To escape.

I’m just about to doze off when I feel the mattress dip. Someone sits beside me, their fingers gently running through my hair.

That feels wonderful.

“I know you’re going to have a hard time with this, but we’ll never abandon you.”

Elizabeth’s voice holds me on the very edge of consciousness. I love her, but all I want to do is slip out of this world.

I’m drifting away as colors swirl behind my eyes.

“Just let go,” I mumble, letting the cyclone carry me to a dimension far away.

“Let her sleep. We’ll pack her bags for her. It’ll be easier on her this way,” JD tells her.

I blink my eyes open and see her resting her head against his stomach as he stands beside the bed.Why do I need a bag?Oh, yeah, I’m going to their house. That’s right.

I like their house. It’s warm and cozy.

Warm and cozy. Heaviness pulls my eyelids shut.

So cozy.