Time flew. It had already been a month since Yoon Mi Rae and Huan died. Devin and Trechial spent a lot of time together, mainly at her home. Diana had in turn done a 360 since Yoon Mi Rae and Huan died. Whenever Diana made dinner, she made enough for Shan and Devin, and when they went out to eat, she made sure to cook something for them beforehand and leave it on the porch. Trechial was shocked, to say the least, at her mom's change of heart, but nonetheless, she appreciated her generosity. She just couldn't help but feel it was too little too late, and maybe it was her mom's guilt that drove her to plow the fields of empathy towards the Liao's. Shan seemed to always be at work, and when he wasn't, he always had a drink in his hand. A plaid bathrobe dark circles and sad eyes greeted her whenever she came over.

Trechial thought Devin would rely on her for emotional support; that had been the case for a couple of weeks. When they were together, he chatted about random things, things that often did not pertain to the death of his parents. As a matter of fact, he hadn't spoken about them much at all. Whenever he would be about to mention Yoon Mi Rae or Huan, he would stop mid-sentence and change the subject. Trechial tried to encourage him a few times to talk about his feelings and explain that it was normal to express them, but he would always say that's psycho-mumbo-jumbo. So, he didn't. He would only talk about the annoyances of Shan and having to clean up behind him after his binge drinking.

The anger on Devin's face when he talked about Shan worried her, so she always tried to diffuse the situation by telling Devin that it was just a phase and would be over once Shan finished grieving his brother's death.

Trechial recognized it was hard on them both. To lose a brother for Shan and for Devin to lose his parents and in such a tragic way often left Trechial at a loss for words. What comfort could there possibly be in a situation like that? She and Devin went on daily walks then one day they decided to take an adventure through the woods on the opposite end of town.

It was beautiful. They reached the end of the first half of the woods, which opened up into a wide-spread grassy field. She would never forget the first faint smile Devin gave her since his parents died.

One side of his mouth lifted, and he said, "Let's go explore the other half?"

He had said that looking into the woods on the other side of the field. Trechial was petrified; she didn't want to go because...who knew what was in there? Bears? Serial killers? Flying spider monkeys that spit green acid? Anything was possible when it came to the woods. The first half of their walk hadn't scared her as much, apart from Devin holding her hand a good bit of the way, and the trees were spaced further apart. On the other side, they were much denser and thicker, yet she gave him a closed-lipped smile and grabbed his hand, and they started running together across the field.

The night sky found them at a wide canal with rushing water leading as far as the eye could see. Eventually, they made their way back to the spot where they began, but this became the spot they would go to almost every day. It was hidden away from the world, something she noticed Devin craved. At times, his cheeks would flush and he would tense up, his eyes flashing as if he was raging. But within a couple of minutes, he would relax, look at her worried expression, and say, "Why are you looking at me that? Do I have a booger in my nose?"

He'd make light of what she just witnessed, making her question if she was over-analyzing.

It wasn't long after that Devin started disappearing without letting Shan or even Trechial know. So she confronted him.

The first few times he did it, she let it slide. Maybe he needed some alone time. Sure, that was it. That had to be it. But she went to their spot to find him, and he was never there.

She called Trey, and Devin wasn't there. She knew he wasn't by Leandro, so she skipped that route. Maylee hadn't caught wind of him on her radar either. She even lowered herself and called Candice who greeted her with a "How the hell am I supposed to know? Didn't you steal him from me, hussy?" before being hung up on.

So Trechial waited for Devin. She hid on side of his house and waited for him. A sleek red convertible pulled into his driveway around ten o'clock, and he got out of the passenger side. She squinted to see who was in the car, but the windows were tinted, and the inside car light didn't turn on when Devin got out.

The car sped off down the street and then Trechial lept from the shadows and ran up the stairs. "What the heck, Devin!"

He didn't flinch, just fumbled in his pockets. "Shit," he hissed beneath his breath, turning to face her. His eyes were bloodshot red, and he reeked of alcohol and smoke.

"Devin, Shan has been looking for you all day. He wanted the two of you to go put fresh flowers at your parent's resting place."

He swayed from side to side then steadied himself. "Do you think dead people really give a damn about flowers, Trechial?"

She stared at him, baffled. "What have you been drinking?"

"Why are you here, Trechial?" He patted his pockets again, finally finding his house key and inserting it into the door.

Her chest tightened at his words, but she held her ground. "Because...Shan wasn't the only one who was worried."

He opened the door and went inside, going straight to the security alarm and punching in the code, getting it wrong twice. She waited outside the door, staring into the house until he came back.

"You coming or not?" He looked past her, not at her.

It hurt. But it hurt even more that she couldn't reach the part that was making him feel distant from her.

"I'm sleepy so make it quick, Mini."

He went into the kitchen and rummaged through the fridge. Finding nothing, he muttered something in Chinese with Shan's name at the end, then left. Trechial followed him upstairs, mainly because she didn't want him to topple back down. In his room, Devin went to his drawer, and Trechial remained with her back to the door. He started digging through the drawer like a gofer.

"Are you going to tell me what you want?" he slurred.

"What's going on with you?"

He took off his shirt and tossed it to the floor. Trechial looked somewhere else.

"I don't know what you mean," he said, throwing a wife beater over his head.

"Devin, you're drunk right now. You can barely stand up."

"Correction. I'm drunk and high as a kite." He leered. "And it feels good."

Trechial moved into the room. "That's not the way you should deal with your pain, Devin."

He closed the gap between them in an instant. His breath reeked of liquor and weed. "Oh yeah, perhaps you should tell me, Miss Know-It-All––how exactly am I supposed to deal with not having parents?"

She stalled for words, she put her foot in her mouth again. She only wanted him to deal with his pain in a healthy manner that wouldn't get him into trouble, and especially put him on Charlie's radar.

Trechial gazed into his eyes, water pooling in her own. "I—I didn't mean it that way. I just want you to be okay, Tae. I just want you to express your feelings in a healthy way. You're putting up a tuff-guy front like you're okay all the time, and I can tell you're not. I know it hurts."

"Okay, Jenny Jones." He began walking her backward. "What do you suppose I do? Walk around crying like a baby over spilled milk?"

The backs of her legs hit his bed. She glanced behind her then at Devin, "How dare you call them spilled milk! Yoon Mi Rae and Huan loved you, and they would be dis— "

"They wouldn't be nothing because they are fucking dead, Trechial! D–E–A–D. Gone. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Stop annoying me with your whiny crybaby bullshit. If you want to spend your days crying over them, go ahead, but you won't rope me into it. I'm going to do me so stay the hell out of my way."

She sucked in a breath, but it was filled with the scent of liquor, which only fed her anger, her sadness, her anguish.

"I can't—" She started, but he kissed her instead.

He tasted like ash and salt.

"Stop—" She pushed him with all her might, sending him stumbling backward. He collected himself and wiped her kiss away like it was acidic.

"If you're not here to screw my lights out to make me forget for a moment that I'm a damn orphan then get the hell out of my house."

He snatched his clothes off the floor and left the room, slamming the door.

The walls shook.