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Dustin sat up, ignoring the funny feeling he had (like he’d just hopped off a merry-go-round) and listened. He listened so hard his face went pink.

He was pretty sure Shane was still home, just not in bed anymore… but it was hard to tell for sure. There were more people in the house than just him and Shane and Laney, now.

He tried to stand but felt wobbly, something hot and sticky crawling up the back of his throat. It tasted like the nasty brown stuff the nasty brown lady had made him drink in the kitchen while Cary had been ignoring her.

“Drink up, sweetie,” she’d coed at him, but it sounded wrong. She had a mean look in her eye, like Cary’s, but not as scary. She’d said it was tequila, but it tasted like hot garbage.

Shane was sitting in his usual spot at the island, eyes closed and looking miserable, a bag of frozen peas on his jaw. Jerry was at the stove frying up bacon.

“Dusty!” Jerry said with a big grin. “Shane an’ I were gettin’ peckish… you’re just in time!” He winked.

Shane’s eyes snapped open and he scrutinized Dustin’s face.

You okay Dustin?

Dustin shook his head yes. Tequila.

Shane frowned, but turned back around and shifted the peas with a groan.

“Chin up, kid!” Jerry said to Shane with a cackle. “Was your choice. You live with it.”

Shane grumbled under his breath, something about not really having a choice.

Awareness prickled at Dustin the same time as it did Shane’s, because both of them turned simultaneously to the kitchen doorway to see Laney standing there in black peddle-pushers and a big grey sweatshirt with no hood. And she was spitting mad.

Her hands were in fists on her hips, her chin was high, and her eyeballs were shiny with liquid fire as she stared at Shane. She was Big Laney, filling up the doorway, filling up the whole room. Dustin shrank away, and even Jerry took a step back. But Shane didn’t.

Shane’s arm dropped to his side, peas in hand, and he was staring right back at her.

They were Talking to each other, and Dustin felt a stab of jealousy. Somehow, they had a new language now, one he didn’t speak. He didn’t know what they were saying.

And then her eyes flickered to Shane’s jaw and she pursed her lips, cocking her head to the side. Shane let out a sigh.

“Looks like someone beat me to it,” Cary drawled, appearing behind Laney, draping an arm around her shoulders and eyeing Shane’s blossoming bruise.

Shane’s face darkened at the sight of Cary’s arm around Laney, but Jerry made a loud clattering noise as he dropped the spatula on purpose and caught Shane’s eye.

The mean, pretty girl showed up, her legs bare, wearing one of Cary’s t-shirts that said My Couch Pulls Out But I Don’t . She looked at Laney and scowled, but then she spotted Shane.

“Oooh, kid,” she purred, swaying towards him, picking up the peas and pressing them to his jaw. “What did you do to that pretty face, huh?”

Dustin could tell she was watching Cary out of the corner of her eye but Cary wasn’t interested in her, he was still fixated on Shane. Dustin’s heart pounded.

Shane leaned away from her.

“I need to put those back in the freezer,” he said, slipping out of his seat and crossing his arms over his chest. “They’re warm, now.”

Cary’s eyes narrowed and the air congealed like old bacon fat.

Dustin watched as Shane eyed Cary with barely-contained rage, his gaze darting to Jerry and then back to Cary’s arm, squeezing tighter around Laney. But then Shane took a breath and forced himself to relax.

“If there’s a way out of this without breaking the other half of my face, I’m all ears,” Shane said.

There was a beat of silence, and then – to everyone’s surprise – Cary laughed.

He held up his other arm and the tequila girl tucked herself under it, her hand snaking around Cary’s waist, stroking his hip possessively.

“Don’t touch my girls and we won’t have a problem,” he said.

Shane stiffened, but nodded once.

Cary reached his arms up and hooked his fingers on the trim over the entryway, lifted himself so his feet came off the ground, and swung lightly into the kitchen towards the stove. “Extra crispy?” he said, looking over Jerry’s shoulder.

“O’course, boy!” Jerry said, smacking Cary’s chest with the spatula. Cary laughed again, and everyone visibly relaxed.

Everyone except Laney.

Shane slipped out of the kitchen and down the hall. Laney cast a furtive glance at Cary’s back, and then turned to follow but Dustin’s hand shot out and he gripped her arm.

No.

Laney’s lip was wobbling, so Dustin looked her right in the eye.

Don’t.

Laney nodded once, blinking away the tears in her eyes, rearranging her face before Cary turned around. By the time he did, she was smiling at him and pulling out a box of Froot Loops. Cary wrinkled his nose at the cereal box.

“More bacon for me, then!” Cary said, smacking his girlfriend’s butt.

Dustin reached for a cereal bowl, too.

Cary never shared the bacon.