"Hey, I got that paint you wanted and this really cool looking black paint that sort of changes colors depending on—...what's wrong?"

"Nothing," I lied, grabbing onto the paint cans and feeling how thin the wires were. I got up the stairs and exhaled in frustration at the mess in the way.

"Can I ask what's going on or will I get yelled at?"

I sat the cans in an open area and then retired to the couch, being the only open piece of furniture to rest on. I put my hand over my face and sighed, sensing that Cassandra took a seat somewhere. But then I realized something.

"Cassie...you grew up here, right?"

"Well yeah...I mean it's not like I had a choice—"

"But you did," I removed my hand. I looked over at her and she frowned. "There was a fire and you could've—"

"A fire?" she questioned, standing up and narrowing her eyes at me. "Who told you there was a fire?"

"Bailee—well she heard it from someone, but I don't get why you would just stay in this small town rather than go to Florida, not to mention I don't know why—"

"Ashlynn, listen to me," she interrupted, kneeling by my side. "I stayed here because no one else in our family could. I stayed here to protect our family name from people in this town that are so quick to give their own versions of history and that house proved to be the only safe place. One day you'll understand it, but—"

"One day?" I asked. "You say that like it's been dwelling on me for decades like it seems to have been for you. If you hadn't noticed, I don't want to be here. Hearing some fractions of the truth about a family I never knew is definitely something to keep me here, but that's not the only problem, Cassandra."

"Then what is the problem?"

"I don't know," I lied, even though there was a specific name ringing out in my brain.

"You don't know?" she asked, doubtfully. "This is a lot of commotion for something you 'don't know'."

"I'm sorry I don't know how to deal with shit," I apologized.

That's because I'm not around, I heard a voice in my mind sigh stressfully. The voice was exactly like my brother's and it would make sense if he was here saying that. Back home, my problems went to him. I didn't have boy troubles because he would give me a reality check to talk to whichever boy about whichever feelings he did or didn't have for me. Andrew was my rock but hearing his voice in my mind didn't crush me as much as I thought it would.

"Well part of it isn't just bottling it up and expelling on me; I'm the only one here for you, Ash."

"Maybe that's the problem," I finally decided. I didn't have my dad. I didn't have Andrew. And...the only person I wanted was wanted by someone else.

But I'm here, I heard another voice say as if they were whispering in my ear. I couldn't identify the voice. It was a mixture of comfort and taken offense to someone who wasn't given the opportunity. If I was crazy, I'd say Andrew and Ryder had fought each other in order to say their piece. Just the thought of those two made me shake my head out of confusion and stress.

"Well whenever you want to talk...I'm here," Cassandra retreated and then left me upstairs.

I should be there for you too, Ash, I was hearing Andrew's voice say. My eyes were closed now and I assumed it was a dream, but now I was seeing Andrew. In the dream, he was speaking to me face-on while approaching me from my under-construction room. "Ashlynn, I am so sorry. I screwed everything up."

"No, you..."

He stepped out of the shadows and the look on his face was the first time I had ever seen him in distress. Instead of seeing his dimples depressed out of laughter, they were concaved in articulation. His eyes were set only on me as he used a bladed hand to speak. His hair was the same way I saw it when I last saw him. It was his natural darkness along the base, but styled upward, it was dyed blonde. Why he did it, I never really knew, but right now, it was the lightest thing in the room.

"Ashlynn, I gotta tell you something."

"You have all the time in the world to tell me anything," I muttered towards him. He was my brother, through life or death. I really didn't need a dead spirit of my brother to bring anything up to mess with my head even more, but I was looking for any kind of link to him right now.

And then it happened. He took another step, making the moonlight cast another light on his face. His normally brown eyes were glowing with bright blue irises. It made my first person view of the situation take a step back. My heart even sped up.

"Ashlynn," he said, reaching out to me, but I was alarmed. His eyes were literally glowing. "I am not dead."

What?

"I'm so sorry. I had to leave—" he started to stammer, but my mind wasn't wrapping around the subconscious imagination that Andrew was still here and telling me he was never dead. He was maybe a foot away from me now and his body had aged like he grew into his permanent adult self. And then suddenly, there was a growl ripping through my dream, shaking the entire frame of the house. It should have pained my ears like how Andrew clutched at his head, but the sound was like two chords mixing and creating a hollowing feeling within me as if I didn't mind. The howl stopped while the open window cracked along the glass, and Andrew removed his hands as his eyes dimmed. "You have to get out of here."

And go where? Florida? I thought to myself, but apparently I had said it out loud because Andrew started to frantically shake his head.

"No—NO, don't go back to Florida; it isn't safe," he warned and then he quickly checked over his shoulder.

"Then what the hell do you expect me to do, Andrew?" I inquired. I shouldn't stay here, but I shouldn't go back home? That didn't make any sense coming from my undead brother. Another howl ripped through the building, this time causing some of the paintbrushes to roll over the floor. But this time, Andrew yelled out to make up for his pain and his eyes glowed blue again while he opened them and removed his hands once more. His yell turned into a growl of some sort that interrupted the howl long enough to tell me two words: "Wake up."

My body obeyed him and for once, after dreaming of him, I didn't wake up in a fright. My eyes simply opened and when I recognized that I was laying on the couch, they moved to the doorway of my room where I saw a familiar boy standing and watching me just like in my dream, only I was awake now.

"Andrew," I breathed as I quickly got up and followed my brother who so clearly entered my room. After maneuvering through my obstacles, I entered my room with haste only to see Andrew sitting on the window sill, ready to jump. "Andrew, you better not—"

"I'm sorry," he apologized in a broken voice I took one step towards him and he jumped. I rushed after him and looked down the window. He was crouched down on his feet and looked up for a second before running off into the night. And then I was hearing chips bouncing off the loft's window. Hesitantly, I exited my room and climbed back over the hindrances in order to bend the horizontal blinds as there was a tiny object hitting the outside glass. I rolled my eyes at the boy who stood there. I went back into my room and put my head outside my window for the second time within a minute.

"Ryder!" I whispered loudly and his head turned immediately. He walked the short distance and was right where Andrew jumped moments ago. I wondered if he saw him, or if I was truly going crazy. "What the hell are you doing?!"

Going out on a limb, I heard his voice say as if he was standing right behind me, however his lips never moved.

"I...I want you to know that I'm sorry for not coming over earlier," he said. I remembered what Bailee said about me seeing him in the way I wanted to and not how he was right in front of me. But the thing was...this was the Ryder in front of me apologizing yet again for the same offense. How could I mistake seeing that part of him?

I need you to forgive me, I was hearing his voice say in my brain again. He didn't say a word out loud, but his eyes said it all. And they cut into my soul and I didn't feel any resentment in the first place. It had completely evaporated. Please.

"It's fine," I finally replied and felt the warm air move in the night and my hair dropped down into my face. And then I saw Ryder slowly taking steps back. "Wait, that's it?"

Well I'm not supposed to be here.

"Yeah...what else is there to say?" he put on a front while re-approaching...unless, that's who he actually was—without fronting. Part of me felt like that's just the bad boy line he was used to for not caring. And then it suddenly changed. "Anything else, I'll just tell you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?"

"Can I not see you tomorrow...?" he questioned with pure confusion on his face. But then again right now is considered 'tomorrow' so—

"UGH, just stop," I groaned out due to the conflicting voices. I didn't know which was real and which wasn't. I just knew the voices belonged to Ryder and that I was going crazy.

"Just stop what? Seeing you...?" he asked, offended.

"Yes, I mean no, but—" I stopped myself with a sigh. I wanted him to be around, but at the same time I didn't. I needed to think about what the hell was going on with my sanity first.

Just talk to me, he was telling me through whatever telepathy I was imagining.

"Ryder, can I be completely honest with you?" I inquired. I heard him lightly chuckle.

"I'm standing outside your house throwing rocks at your window at two in the morning," he described. "I can't think of a better time for you to be honest with me."

"I'm going through a lot right now that I don't even fully understand what I'm even going through, so just bear with me and just understand..."

He smirked and looked down on himself before looking back up at me.

"How could the most misunderstood boy in town ever deal with you then?" he questioned with absolute sarcasm along with his half smile. It made me feel better because in a way, he could identify with me. He took a step back while digging his hands in his pockets. "Good night, Ashlynn."

I'll see you tomorrow, he concluded and my heart fluttered.