That night, I was too wine drunk and emotionally exhausted to dream. However, the next night, I was back in Finn's house. I could smell the cigarettes in the air, and I could hear a fly buzzing around an old pizza box. His dad slithered in from around the corner. I looked around for my friends, but I was utterly alone. "Hm, the pretty little girl came back to see me?" He walked like a drunken sailor, ambling over to me, and his voice was scratchy and guttural.

     I headed for the front door, but it was locked, and I couldn't open it. He got closer and closer to me, and I could smell whiskey on his breath. "You better behave, you know what happens to bad girls." I pushed my back against the door, trying to get as far away from his as possible, but he pressed up against me, his hand right on my waist. I opened my mouth to scream, and he raised his hand to slap me again. Just before his beefy hand made contact, I sat straight up in bed, chest heaving and tears running down my face. I tried to catch my breath, but I couldn't stop shaking. I knew it was crazy, but it felt like he was in my room with me. I looked around wildly, positive he was going to slither out of some dark corner, just like he had in my dream.

     I knew I would hate myself in the morning for this, but there was no way I was going to be able to fall back asleep alone. I was terrified. So, I got out of bed, wary to keep my ankles out of under-the-bed-grabbing distance, and crossed the hall. I knocked lightly, but there was no answer, so I cracked the door open and peered in.

     Bishop was shirtless and passed out in just a pair of boxers. One of his arms dangled off the bed, and I was pretty sure I saw some drool on his pillow. I cracked a smile through my tears, before gently shaking him. "Bishop?" I whispered.

     He awoke with a start and pushed himself up on his elbows, blearily rubbing his eyes. "Vienna? What's wrong?"

     "Who says there's anything wrong? Can't I just be paying you a visit?" I guffawed, waving him off. "You know, in the middle of the night?"

     "What's wrong?" He asked again, rolling his eyes and laughing.

     I didn't think this far ahead. Tears started to build in my eyes again. I knew I was being a baby about this, but I couldn't help it. I remembered how comforting he was to me the day before, how calm he made me feel, and I wanted to feel like that again. I felt like he could protect me from anything. "Can I-" My voice broke a little, "Can I sleep here?" I spoke so quietly that I wasn't sure he even heard me.

     "Uh, yeah, of-of course," he said, without hesitation. He opened up the covers for me, and I climbed in next to him. I laid on my side, my injured cheek exposed. Bishop rolled over to face my backside. "Is this, you know, about this?" He asked, running a finger down my jawline carefully. I bit my lip and nodded, a couple of tears falling. "Did you have a nightmare?" I nodded again.

     "I know that it's stupid, but-" I started, but he cut me off.

     "Sh, it's not stupid. You're still shaking." He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, before dropping his head down to the pillow behind me. There was about a foot of space between us. "Do-do you want to come here?" He asked softly.

     I slowly backed up in to him, and he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close. I closed my eyes, but all I could see was that man's awful face. I inhaled sharply, before turning around and pressing my face into Bishop's chest.

     "Hey, hey, it's okay. I've got you," he said, stroking my hair. I slowly nodded but didn't move away from him. Eventually, I fell asleep, but I'm not sure if Bishop ever did. When I woke up the next morning, we were still in the same position, and he was still playing with my hair, even though late morning sun streaked in through the blinds.

     "Hey, Vi?" He whispered. I made a noise in response. "I have to get to a doctor's appointment, um, unless you want me to stay with you?"

     I shook my head, pushing myself off of him. "No, no, don't skip that on account of me. I'm okay, really."

     "Are you sure?" He reached out and touched my arm.

     "Yeah, yeah, I'm serious, I'm good. But, um, thank you, for last night," I tried to hide my awkwardness, but I could feel my cheeks turning red.

     "Yeah, um, anytime," he said, scratching the back of his neck.

     We stared at each other for a few more moments, before I nodded slowly and got out of his bed. I went back to my room and slowly closed the door behind me. "Fuck," I whispered to myself.

     "Well, did you guys?" A male's voice asked. My heart skipped a beat, as my eyes snapped up to see the speaker. Valeria and Zane were seated on my bed, wiggling their eyebrows at me.

     "I don't know what you're talking about," I said, still recovering from my shock. "And what are you two doing in here?"

     "Bueno, I just got back from my trip, and I wanted to come say hello to my best friends on this fine Saturday morning," Valeria said.

     "And I heard you go into Bishop's room in the middle of the night, so I figured I'd share this beautiful moment of watching you do the walk of shame," Zane said, obviously enjoying this.

     "This is not a walk of shame! For your information, we did not hook up. At all! We just slept," I explained, narrowing my eyes at the duo.

     "Either way, you've got some explaining to do. Brunch?" Valeria asked, jumping off my bed.

     "Yes, please," I said, nodding eagerly.

     "Can I come?" Zane asked.

     "No!" Valeria and I both chorused at the same time.

     "Now, scram and let me change," I said, opening the door and shooing Zane out. Just as he was leaving, Bishop was coming out of his room, fully dressed to leave. We made eye contact, and I shot him a quick, awkward smile, before slamming my door shut once again.

     Valeria eyes widened, having watched that awkward exchange. "Yup, lots of explaining to do. Hurry up and get dressed!" She rushed, waving her hands at me.

     As it turned out, Zane talked his way into coming to brunch with us. He promised us that if we didn't let him, he would follow us and sit at the table behind us, wearing a large floppy hat and sunglasses. When I asked what he would do if he lost us, he said, "I always know where the babes are." So, we were forced to bring him along.

     We sat at a brunch place on the corner. It was a sunny day, and the light filtering in through the window warmed our table. It was only once I had downed a mimosa and was working on my second that I was ready to talk about what had happened. I told Valeria and Zane all about our Thanksgiving day, most of which Zane had already heard from Bishop. Finn hadn't said anything to anyone about our holiday.

     "That's so awful, about Finn's mom. And I truly can not believe that his dad hit you," Valeria said, in between bites of her spinach and mushroom omelet. "I mean, I knew he had a troubled background, but to hit you? Wow. But aw, Bishop! He's soooo got a crush on you."

     "Shut up about that, but I've never been so scared. I had a horrible nightmare last night, so, uh, that's how I ended up in Bishop's room," I said, scrunching my nose up in preparation for their responses.

     "So did you bone or not?" Zane asked, leaning forward like I was about to deliver life-changing news.

     Valeria smacked him upside the head for me. "No, Zane," I said, rolling my eyes, "We did not bone." He rolled his eyes and sat back in his seat, over our conversation.

     "So, what's going on with you two then? Are you, like, seeing each other now?" Valeria asked.

     My eyes grew wide, and I chugged the rest of my mimosa, before answering her. "I have no fucking clue. But I could ask the same thing about you and Finn, Val."

Zane raised his eyebrows at her, and her eyes flickered between the two of us, before she shrugged. They clinked their glasses together and downed their mimosas

     We walked our day-drunk asses back home, about 4 mimosas and an hour and a half later. When we got back, it was the afternoon and Finn was on a bar stool, his hands cradling a cup of black coffee. He looked rough, like he hadn't been sleeping or eating. He didn't even look up when we walked in.

     Valeria looked at me and pouted in concern, before going over and taking the bar seat next to him. "Hey, Finn?" He didn't look at her, didn't even act like he heard her. "Are you okay?" She put her hand on his arm, but he wrenched it away. He left his mug behind and stormed back to his room. We all heard the door slam shut. Valeria had puppy dog eyes as she watched him go. "Should-should I go after him?"

     "Nah, he'll come around. Just let him be," Zane said. He went to the fridge and took out a beer. He gestured to us with it, receiving nods from the both of us, so he tossed us each one. "Anyone up for a game of pool?"

     "Oh, yeah, I'll kick your ass, white boy," Valeria said, grabbing a cue and rubbing it in chalk. "I'll break."

     Just as their game was starting, Bishop came through the front door. He glanced at all of us and shrugged. "Day drinking it is," he said, then grabbed himself a beer. He sat in a bar stool next to me, watching them play.

     "You need to catch up, we're about six mimosas in," I said, nudging his shoulder.

     "Damn," he said, eyeing me, "alright then."
He held eye contact, as he chugged the entire beer like it was nothing.

     I slow-clapped for him. "Wow, that is a gift," I said, laughing.

    "Has Finn come out of his room?"

     I relayed to him what had happened when we got home. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm worried about him, if he won't even talk to me or Valeria? I don't know what to do."

     "Maybe we just give him time?" I asked, taking a swig of my beer. "Did you ask your mom about the services?"

     "Oh, right," he pulled out his phone to call his mom, and I rolled my eyes. Valeria and Zane both perked to attention when they heard Bishop on the line. "Right, okay, mom. I hear you, 11:00 a.m., tomorrow morning. You got it, we'll be there. Yes, all of us. Yes, I'll be dressed nice. And Zane will too, I swear, I'll make sure. Okay, thank you, love you, bye," he said into the phone. All I could hear from Debbie was high pitched jabber that never seemed to stop, until Bishop hung up, of course.

     "Debbie's got no fucking faith in me," Zane groaned, lining up a shot.

"Does Finn know?" I asked.

"Well, I doubt his dad called him, so probably not," Zane said.

I glanced to my right to see Bishop slyly bring his finger to his nose. I copied his lead and did the same, with Zane noticing and copying around the same time. We all looked at Valeria, who was staring absentmindedly at her nails, waiting for her turn in pool. She looked up at us. "What?" She asked, before putting the pieces together. She sighed, "Fine, I'll fucking tell him, but if he kills me it's on you guys. Bury me someplace nice."

"You're the one he's least likely to kill. Or Bishop. But if we sent Vienna in there, he'd kill her for sure. Shit, she'd be a goner," Zane said, laughing. Bishop slapped his chest and he piped down, making an 'oops' face. "Daddy didn't like that one," he whispered to Valeria, receiving an eye roll.

Valeria put her beer down and tentatively knocked on Finn's door. We all waited in the hallway. There was no answer, but I don't think anyone was really expecting one. Valeria creaked the door open anyways, closing it behind her. The rest of us crowded in, pressing our ears to the door, anxious to hear how Finn would react.

"Hey, um, Finn?" Valeria's muffled voice said. We couldn't hear if he answered or not. "How-how are you doing? With everything going on?"

This time, we could hear him mumbling something, but I couldn't make out what it was. "You don't mean that," Valeria said, her voice sounding hurt.

Now, we could hear him loud and clear. "Get the fuck out of my room!" Finn yelled. His voice seemed to shake the door in its frame. There's no way I would have stayed in there alone after that, but the door did not open, nor did Valeria come running out.

"No, Finn," she said, holding her ground, even though her voice shook, "I'm not going anywhere. You can't scare me away!"

"I don't want you here," he spoke slowly, spitting venom in his words. I glanced at Bishop and Zane, and they regarded me with wide eyes. None of us moved.

"I don't care. I'm not leaving." She spoke in the same slow and controlled way he did. There was silence for a minute, and Zane reached for the door handle. I shook my head furiously and slapped his hand away. He frowned at me and reached again, but Bishop pulled him away. He glanced at both of us, before comically lunging for the handle. There was a silent scuffle, but eventually he prevailed and cracked the door open.

Inside, Finn and Valeria were having a standoff. They were standing face to face, inches apart. Finn's jaw was clenched, his entire body tense, as his eyes bored into hers, daring her to do something. Valeria didn't back away. Instead, she put her hand on his arm. "You are not your father, and I am not afraid of you," she said, taking a step closer to him. With those words, Finn's demeanor did a 360. He dropped down into his desk chair, his elbows on his knees, and his hands wringing the back of his neck.

     Valeria put her hand on his back. He sat up and looked at her, his eyes watery and his face broken. Gently, he wrapped his arms around her, hands shaking. She hugged him back, and he clung to her. "It's okay," she soothed, rubbing his back. His fingers dug into her skin. His face was scrunched up like he was in pain. My heart broke for him. "The services are tomorrow at 11, okay?"

"Fuck," he muttered, dropping his hands away from her. His demeanor completely changed again. Now, he splayed out in his chair, trying to seem nonchalant. "Are you going?" He asked, and I could tell that he was trying to come of like he couldn't care less.

"Do you want me to?" She pressed, pulling away from him and raising her eyebrows. She was not going to let him get away that easy.

"I don't care," he said, his eyes capturing hers. She held eye contact boldly, and he was the first to look away.

"Do you want me to?" She repeated, emphasizing her words.

He was silent for almost a full minute. He didn't look up at her again, but he did choke out, "Yes." It sounded like it was painful for him to say those words, but for Finn, it was a big step.

"Then, yes, of course, I'll be there." She bent down and hugged him again, running a hand through his curly brown hair. He nodded and let his head drop to her chest.

I glanced at Bishop and Zane. We all seemed to feel like we were interrupting something, so Zane slid the door shut once more. We headed back to the kitchen and tried to act nonchalant, as Valeria followed us in a minute or two later.

"He, um, took the news well," she said, before picking up her beer and finishing the last few sips. She asked weakly, "Who wants to shotgun?"