I stand and watch Cas drive off before I head inside. Amelia's waiting for me in the entryway. "What the fuck, Dres?" she practically screams. "Since when are you and Cas a thing? You guys are on some married couple shit."

      When I don't respond, she goes, "I'm going to need the fullest of explanations."

      "Can I get something to drink first?" I ask as I walk over to the fridge. "And I need to call Jack."

     "I will be sitting on this couch waiting for the whole truth, nothing but the truth, so help you god."

      She stomps into the living room and plops onto the couch, acting like I've personally offended her.

      "I don't see how what's going on between me and Cas is any of your concern," I mutter. She holds her hand up in the air, flicking me off.

      I pour myself some water as I call Jack. He answers on the third ring. "Oh man," he says. "You will not believe the day I'm having. I bought my laptop into the kitchen while I was trying to cook breakfast because who says you can't be a house-husband and a bread winner? Well, apparently science because gravity did what gravity does best and now I've been at apple for the last hour trying to salvage this thing. Now Jas would say this is what happens when she gets a cold and I resign her to her bed but really the moral of the story here is apple should be making their laptops just as waterproof as their iPhones."

     "Are they going to be able to save it, you think?" I ask.

     "I don't know. Mostly, I just want to get everything that's on it onto something I can use. This daddy work from home life is seriously no joke. Oh, I think the tech dudes coming back. Thank fuck. I gotta go, but Imma swing by Weston's on my way home? I've got the kids with me so you can play best god parent and feed them if you want. Please say you want because the alternative is fast food for them. And I know how you love and approve of that."

      "Actually, Weston's is closed today."

      "Oh, what? Why?"

     "There was a shooting yesterday night," I say slowly.

      Jack interrupts. "Oh, fuck, did your storefront get caught up in it? Did it take out the window?"

      "No, the shooting was at Weston's."

      "What?" Jack nearly screams into the phone.

      "Don't freak out. I'm fine. It was a minimal injury."

      "You were shot? What happened?"

     "Some guy showed up when I was closing, pissed I was a gay vet."

      "Fuck, okay, I'm gonna finish up here and come over."

      "No, don't worry about it. You got enough on your plate and Amelia's here."

      "Amelia came into town? Why do I feel like you're downplaying how bad this was?"

      I say quickly, "I'm not. I'm really not. I'm fine, so don't stress out about it. I'm only calling cause Cas said I should before you read about it on Polly's blog."

     "Wait, Cas is there, too? Put him on the phone."

     "He left already. Why do you want to speak to him?"

      "Because he's a doctor and he'll give it to me straight. Look I'm going to call him and then I'll call you back."

      "Wait, no, don't—."

     Jack's already hung up, though.

     "That sounds like it went swimmingly," Amelia calls from the couch.

     I take my glass of water and join her on the couch. "Everyone is blowing this way out of proportion."

     "You were shot," Amelia snaps. "That's a big freaking deal. People don't just go and get shot regularly. I know it feels like nothing to you because of the things you've seen. But this is civilian life. Getting shot is not normal. Okay? You scared the shit of me. You scared the shit of mom."

      "I didn't go out of my way to get shot," I say stubbornly.

      "No, I know that, Dres," she responds softly. "But you do this thing — you make it hard to be there for you because you act like you've got it all handled. And when someone you love gets hurt all you wanna do is be there and take care of them. It's like the allusion of control when a situation occurs that you have no control over. And you make it impossible to do that. Except for with Cas, apparently."

      I give her a pointed look. "What's that supposed to mean?"

     Amelia gives me a look back like it should be obvious. "Come on. I know he's a doctor but, like, come on. He bought your meds with him. Short of cradling you in his arms and breastfeeding you, he's basically your mom."

     I roll my eyes. "I think that's a bit of an exaggeration."

     "All I'm saying is you let Cas take care of you. I think you even like it, or prefer it, or whatever. Which is fine. There's literally nothing wrong with that. You should have someone who takes care of you. It's important to have that give and take. And you guys definitely have it."

     "Cas and I aren't dating," I say after a moment.

     Amelia rolls her eyes. "Right. And I'm a lefty."

     I don't respond and we stare at each other until she finally goes, "Oh, you're serious." I nod. "How's that even possible? What are you, then? Because I definitely interrupted something this morning — oh my god, are you guys fuck buddies?"

     "I mean," I say slowly. "I would't exactly. I mean, like."

     "Oh my god, you are." She grabs one of the throw pillows on the couch and swats me with it. "What the hell, Dres. Seriously, you're that emotionally stunted you can't commit to a relationship? What is wrong with you?"

     "It's not me," I say quickly. "Stop hitting me. It's not me, Amelia."

      She stops, jerking her head to the side. "What? It's Cas? That doesn't make any sense."

     "Well, I don't know what to tell you. The truth doesn't have to make sense because it's the truth."

      "Alright, okay, fine I will play into this weird alternate reality where you and Cas aren't together but you're acting like you are. What's the game plan? End game? Do you have some big proposal planned?"

     I wonder if my pain meds are making me high. I feel like I may be high. "Proposal?" I repeat.

     "Oh my god, not literally like an engagement proposal. Like a let's make this official, let's do this again proposal. Dinner? A walk through central park? Fireworks?"

      "You think I need to make this a whole display?"

      "Well, you did, you know, up and leave him five years ago so yeah, I would say so." Amelia stares at me thoughtfully. "Did you ever think you'd end up with him again? That you'd ever even see him again?"

      I answer honestly. "No, but I hoped."

     She smacks my arm, the good one. "So then don't waste this. Most people don't get second chances. Go big or go home, Dres. The time is now. Or maybe not now now since you can't really lift your arm. But you feel me."

       "I feel you," I say.

      "Okay, good, next time I see you, you two better be using labels. That don't include the words fuck or buddy."

      "You're stressing me out, Amelia," I say rubbing at my temple.

      "That's because you get yourself into stressful situations that don't have to be stressful." She reaches over towards the coffee table and grabs the remote. "Alright, I'm gonna put on a movie but feel free to knock out. Did you take your Tylenol?"

      "What?" I ask confused.

     "Cas texted and said you need to take a Tylenol before you nap."

      "This is ridiculous," I say as I pull out my phone and call him. He answers on the first ring, saying, "What's wrong?" as soon as he picks up. "Stop micromanaging me through Amelia."

      He laughs. "I was just..."

     "Micromanaging me. What did you tell Jack?"

     "The truth," he responds easily. "However, I did convince him that it wasn't necessary to stop by and see for himself that you were fine. You're welcome. Aren't you supposed to be sleeping?"

      "Alright, okay, I cannot deal with this much coddling. I'm hanging up now."

      Cas is still laughing when he says, "I'll talk to you later." I hang up, setting my phone down on the couch.

     Amelia's gaze is intent on the tv screen as she says, "Like literally your husband, but I digress."