In a little house within a little town—hundreds of miles from where Aubrey sat—stood a boy. The boy's gaze was soft. It fell upon overgrown garden beds and tall grass outside his window. There were no thoughts in his mind as he looked at these things. There was no feeling in his heart. There was nothing; nothing but pain. The boy was Ody Winter.

"Ody, hey, are you ready to go?' The voice behind him brought him back to reality. It was gentle. It was sweet. It was careful. Yet even though he heard her, he couldn't tear his eyes away from the garden. "Ody?"

"Yeah, uh, sorry, yeah I'm all ready to go." His words were forced. He knew Mae knew that. He didn't care anymore, though. He didn't even care about the studder he had developed in the past few weeks. He didn't care much about anything, in fact.

Mae walked over quietly to her boy. She put her hands on his shoulders and sighed as she, too, gazed out the window. The sun was high in the sky. Birds flew about in delight, but Ody ignored the beauty. He wished all of it would just disappear. A part of him wished he could disappear with it.

"You do not have to do this. You do not have to go if it-"

"No. Mae, uh, I have to."

"Ody..." she took in a deep breath, "last time they were all together with you, you did not saw a word. Are you sure you are ready to head back?" Ody choked in a breath as his voice shakily replied.

"How else am I supposed to— to move on when I'm just trapped in all this? I can't live here. She lived here. He lived here. I need to go. I— I have to go or else I won't be able to— to... forget." There was a pause.

"You know Penny and Devlin would not want you to forget them..."

"Please just go..." His voice was shallow. Mae sighed and pulled her hands off his shoulders. She turned to leave.

"Please, eat something at least?" Her words were almost a question. But she already knew the answer. Looking at her boy's swollen eyes from crying and sunken in cheeks, she didn't know what to do.

It broke her heart to see her baby so distraught. He needed help. She knew that. He needed to find a way to not blame the deaths of his father and sister on himself.

The second tragedy had taken place mere weeks ago but his emotions hadn't lightened one bit since he had found her body, cold on the bedroom floor. That's what feared her most.

Mae loved Penny. Although they had never been close, she loved her. There had been distance between them and Mae had missed her daughter but Mae was too good at dealing with change. She knew this was just another result of that. When someone wasn't there, she didn't think about them. That helped her cope.

Ody, on the contrary, hated all forms of change. She knew that. He was selfish. She had to get him help despite it all. He would refuse it, though, so she didn't know how.

Mae headed out of the hall and down the stairs to the kitchen. They had time for dinner before Eric would come to pick up Ody. She began boiling some water on the stove.

Eric had been so very kind to them. The inheritance gave him the house, but he let them stay. Deep down, Mae knew it was more than kindness. Eric wanted it to be like this. He loved Mae. Everyone could see it. He wanted her to stay. Mae liked him as well, but the way he looked at her made her wish she loved him back that deeply.

Beneath the forced smiles and small talk, the woman was scared, no, terrified. Too much had changed recently—even for her. She didn't think she was ready to marry Eric. She didn't think she was ready for her son to move away for the summer. She didn't think she was ready to get a new job. She just wanted a week to think it all over. No, she didn't even need a week. Just a day. One day to think about what she wanted. Not what Eric wanted, not what Ody wanted, what she wanted.

Hearing the front door open, Eric walked in. "What's for dinner?" he asked. She mumbled out the name of the soup and he walked over to where she was, stone faced, stirring the pot. He gave her a hug from behind and she let out a light smile.

"What's on your mind?" he asked.

"Only everything," she spoke as her smile fell away.

"I'm sorry... anything I can do?"

"Get Ody to eat something? He hasn't eaten anything since this morning."

"Yes ma'am." He nodded at her as he turned to find Ody. "You hang in there, love." Eric smiled back at her. Mae threw a smile his way, but it was forced. Everything seemed forced. Everything was forced. How the hell was she supposed to fix all this?

***

The lace curtains drifted about the bedroom in the morning breeze. His yellow walls seemed to glow as he made his bed. Saying his morning prayers and then getting dressed, the boy brushed his curly red hair out of his eyes.

Benny Walsh closed the door behind him as he left his yellow bedroom. It was his childhood bedroom, with a floor to ceiling bookshelf, a full-sized bed, but not much else. He had moved out of his mother's house when he turned eighteen only to move back in when the doctors gave him the warning.

Making his way down the hall, Benny helped his mother out of bed and into her wheelchair. She had been awake when he came in. She tended to do this. Benny knew she had trouble sleeping.

"Morning, Ma," he smiled and she smiled back at him. Her gaze quickly returned to the screen of her tablet, though. While she scrolled through the web, Benny made her bed and helped her prepare for the day. "C'mon, ma, let's get you some breakfast," Benny spoke and the woman nodded.

Wheeling her out of the room, the two entered the kitchen. As the woman's eyes sat glued to tablet screen, Benny cracked two eggs with one hand each and beat them. He slid them onto a sprayed pan on the burner with one hand while he poured frozen strawberries into the blender for a morning smoothy with the other.

His mother was aware of his love for cooking. So, over the years, she had acquired a sensitive taste that both helped her give him feedback, but also made her a picky eater.

While the eggs were still cooking, he served up the strawberry protein shake. His mother took it from him, but her eyes still remained on the screen. Benny walked around so he could see what she was reading.

"Ma, what is this?"

"Oh, this?" the woman's voice was quiet. Benny had to lean in to hear her better. Placing his hands on her shoulders and leaning over to look at the screen, his eyes set on a blog post. "This young girl I follow is very interesting," the old woman spoke.

"What is she saying?" he asked as his eyes set on an image of the stars.

"She says—" The old woman paused to cough. Benny brought her the inhaler. "She says that there is something covering up the stars. Look at her image." His mother pointed at the image.

"Ma," Benny chuckled softly, "you can't believe everything you read on the internet. I'm sure that image is photoshopped."

Walking over to the eggs, he poured them from the pan onto two plates. Benny reached for his own phone for the first time that morning. As he checked his messages, he began to make coffee for the two of them.

His brow creased at a message from Mr. Aldrich. Benny hadn't heard from him in weeks. He read it once, then twice. The message read: 'Benjamin Walsh, the break is over. We need you.' With the text, was a picture. Benny stared at it for a moment. Then it hit him.

"Ma..." his voice was hesitant, "Would you mind sending me the link to that post? I'm afraid that... 'interesting' girl might have landed herself a job."