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"We don't have to talk about it," he said. "And for the record, I'm not really sorry you broke up either."

Glancing up at her father, she couldn’t stop the small tug that turned up the corners of her lips.

Her dad was sort of her person. The one she went to when she needed to solve life’s problems. Well, actually, Quinn was her person, but as he was clearly unavailable, her dad was the next best thing. "It's sort of a long story."

Charlie lowered himself onto the edge of her bed. "I've got time."

Oh boy…where do I start? How many of the details did she really want to share with her dad?

He was level-headed and understanding in almost all respects, and he was protective, but also knew that teenagers did teenager stuff and that was perfectly normal.

He wouldn't freak out on her over locker room talk, and she doubted he'd flinch hearing about Quinn's new reputation.

Deciding that he would let her know if she was oversharing, she began with the day Liam asked her to the homecoming dance.

"...and there was this huge fight in the locker room the other day. Chris and Jett told me Liam was sharing... intimate and private details of our...physical relationship,” Raelyn was explaining.

Her dad put a hand up and assured her he did not need to know those details.

“Right, well, apparently it pissed Quinn off.

And then Liam made some snarky comment about how I just think he's a charity case or something.”

Charlie’s eyebrows shot up. “What a little prick. What did Quinn have to say?”

Anxiously picking at her comforter, she continued to explain about her interaction with Quinn while he cleared out his locker.

“And then!" Raelyn's pace and volume were rising as she described this scene that still had her fuming, “He walks around me and just shoves his tongue down Alaina Costello's throat- can you believe that? Alaina Costello!” Raelyn scoffed.

"He knows I don't like her. And then they just walk out together like they're some couple!

Just because he chose her to make out with for no apparent reason! "

“Isn’t that sort of what you did to him?” Charlie questioned. “Just picked the person you knew would piss him off the most because you were upset with him at that moment?”

Staring back at her dad, she chewed her lip, reflecting on this point. “Okay, Dad, are you here to be reasonable and give me sound advice? Or are you here to back me up? Because you can't do both.”

With a nearly silent laugh, Charlie put his hands up in surrender, "I'm always here to back you up, sweetie. I'm just making connections." He sighed, then furrowed his brow in concentration. "Do I know Alaina? The name sounds familiar."

"She's the girl who hates me because you and mom have money," Raelyn replied contemptuously.

"I've known her since the sixth grade and she's just always been unpleasant toward me.

And she constantly makes snarky comments about me being a spoiled rich girl.

She's all dark and cynical and has this stupid The World Is Out To Get Me attitude.

And no matter what you say or do to be nice, she just has this chip on her shoulder.

It's like a vendetta against anyone who doesn't have a completely dysfunctional family. "

"Sounds like maybe she and Quinn have some things in common," Charlie said thoughtfully.

Raelyn looked at her dad through narrowed eyes. "No. They don't. Quinn is nice and pleasant to be around. And funny. And fun. Alaina is just...moody and hates everyone."

"You do realize that's how Quinn looks to everyone except you and his closest friends, right? How many noses has he broken? How many teeth has he knocked out?" Charlie asked.

"Uh, when he was younger, yeah," Raelyn defended, "but he's not that angry, pessimistic kid anymore.

" Charlie raised his eyebrows and scrunched his face.

"Okay, he's still a little angry, apparently," she admitted with a restrained giggle, "but he doesn't let his situation keep him down.

He doesn't go around blaming everyone else because of the shitty hand he was dealt. "

Nodding, Charlie waved a hand for her to continue. “So, where does your break up with Liam- and I'm assuming, your hand injury- come in?”

Raelyn told her dad about confronting Liam at his house and the things he'd said about Quinn being like a stray guard dog that should've been left outside.

“And you punched him for that?”

“Um...no.” Raelyn’s hands were shaking as she recalled the attack.

She studied the zipper on her dad’s pull-over sweater.

“He...Well, we were supposed to go out that night, remember? And I guess he thought we were going to have sex. I sort of knew that...I wasn’t planning on going through with it, but I knew that was his plan. ”

“Okay…” Charlie said with forced control.

“And...He sort of attacked me- but I got away from him, Dad. I’m fine,” Raelyn said in a rush.

"He what?" Charlie's voice was clipped and threatening.

"And that's when I punched him. And then I left," Raelyn rushed the words. "Well, I told him to stay away from me and Quinn and that if he pressed charges I would ruin him. And then I left.”

Her dad was still working to control his anger. He was staring at the wall behind Raelyn, his jaw was clenched, and nostrils flared. Charlie stood abruptly. “I will kill him.”

"No, you won't.”

“I absolutely will. This piece of shit...we let him into our home, shared meals with him, had conversations with him...and he attacks you? Because you won’t have-” Charlie breathed heavily. “Does Quinn know?”

“Like I said, he won't talk to me,” Raelyn said. “I’m sure he’d respond if I told him, but…”

“Do not tell him,” Charlie advised. He paced back and forth in front of Raelyn’s bed. “You don’t want to press charges? He left marks on you.”

“If I press charges on him, he’ll go after Quinn. He’s got a lot more to lose. ”

Charlie sighed and nodded reluctantly. “Fine. He’d better know what a good friend you are, even when he’s mad at you for no good reason.”

Raelyn slunk back into her pillows and groaned, "I don't know what to do. I hate this. I just want my friend back."

"Go over to his house," Charlie replied simply. "Just show up. He can ignore your calls and texts and turn off his phone, but he can't exactly ignore you if you're right in front of him."

"I don't know, he's pretty good at the silent treatment."

“If he still refuses to talk to you when you're making an effort to be there for him, then give me a call. I'll head on over and knock some sense into him,” said Charlie. “I'm sure he's a better fighter than I am, but I don't think he'd hit me.”

Two hours later, Raelyn was sitting outside Quinn's house, nervously drumming her fingers on the steering wheel of her BMW.

The temperature had dropped significantly over the past week and the crisp, clean scent of snow was in the air.

Parked on the street, she knew she couldn't let her engine run for long without attracting attention, and she couldn't sit in her car with the engine off without freezing.

Turning the key back and pulling it out of the ignition, she made up her mind to just do it.

She was going to walk into his house and find him and slap some sense into him- literally, if need be.

His mother’s gold Toyota Corolla sat in the small driveway in front of a red Pontiac Grand Prix.

The red car was unfamiliar, but there were always different vehicles there.

Molly's various friends were always traipsing in and out of the house, likely bringing her drugs.

Raelyn wasn't completely naive; she knew people who dealt with heroin were dangerous.

But she couldn't bear the thought of walking around to his bedroom window and getting turned away.

Quinn could pretend he didn't hear her or see her if he pulled the blinds, and wouldn't that just be embarrassing?

So, Raelyn walked straight up the walkway to the shabby front porch with its ripped screen door.

She didn't knock. If Molly's drug buddies were inside, she wouldn't want to draw their attention.

She tested the front door and it was unlocked, so she pushed through.

The living room to the right was empty, as was the kitchen to the left.

Straight ahead was the hallway that led to the two small bedrooms and the bathroom.

Hoping she wouldn't run into any questionable characters in the dark hallway, Raelyn marched with purpose toward the second door on the left.

Standing outside Quinn's bedroom door, Raelyn let out a quick breath, closed her eyes for a few seconds.

It's just Quinn. He's obviously mad, but you know what you're here to say. You got this.

Raelyn opened her eyes, grabbed the doorknob and swung the door open, announcing herself with an assertive "Quinn Casey! Why-"

She was going to ask why he'd made her drag her ass all the way across town in the snow, but at the sight of Alaina in his bed she stopped short.

"-the hell is she here?" She managed to finish.

Alaina was lying on Quinn's bed, on her side, with her head propped up in her hand. Quinn sat on the floor with his back against his bed. He had a baseball in his hand, which Raelyn assumed he'd been lazily tossing into the air and catching repeatedly.

Quinn's eyes widened in surprise at the sight of Raelyn in his bedroom doorway, mouth open and frozen as if he'd been caught doing something he knew he shouldn't.

Alaina's face contorted into a sneer. "Unlike you , I was invited."

"Rae," Quinn placed a hand on the floor, getting ready to stand up. "What are you doing here? Did my mom let you in?"

"No, I let myself in," Raelyn replied, then with a snarky glare toward Alaina she added, "When you've been friends for nine years, there's a standing invitation. I can come and go whenever I want."