Surprisingly, I wake up in a bed. There is a cup of water, aspirin, and a note on the table next to me.

Had to deal with some things, be back tonight. Feel better.

Tim

I felt like shit so I take the aspirin and down the water gratefully. I check for a clock and finally find the time on the microwave, 1pm. I'm not sure how I slept so long and realizing it's Tuesday wonder if the school knows why I'm not there. Then I decide that's not really important.

"How ya feeling kid?" Wade's voice makes me jump and he pats my head. The truth was I wanted to barf all over his kitchen; but I wasn't about to tell him that, "Take a seat. I'll make some breakfast. Pancakes ok?"

"Super." I lay my head on the kitchen table, it's cold and feels good on my cheek. Wade sets some water down in front of me and I start sipping on it. I'm expecting burnt pancakes but they end up being pretty good, "Thanks."

"No problem. Glad you decided to stick around this time." He taunts me. I feel too tired to come up with a response so I just shrug, "Want to go for a ride?"

"Where?"

"Does it matter?" It doesn't.

"I guess not. Should we wake Curly?"

Wade looks over at Curly, "You ever dealt with a hung over Curly?" I havn't, "It's not pretty."

"Ok. Now?"

"Sure." I follow Wade out to the car and he tosses me the keys. I grab them but stand there in shock, he grins, "Come on then you want to don't you?" I don't know much about cars, but I do know Wade's is a nice one. So I jump in and gun it out of the parking lot and down the road.

"Why are you letting me drive?"

"Trying to distract you."

"Did Tim tell you you had to be nice to me or something?"

"No. Tim doesn't direct everything we do you know?"

"Sure." I look over to Wade and he's smiling.

"Tim didn't tell me I had to be nice. You find it hard to believe someone might decide that on their own?"

"Plenty of people are nice to me; but I've known them forever. I just met you." I point out.

"You remember what you asked me last night?" I grip the wheel and nod, "I was 12 and when I came home the place had been robbed. My little sister and ma had been shot." I'm not sure what to say or why he is telling me this and I wait for him to continue but he's silent.

"I'm sorry." It's a lame response but it's all I can manage.

"Me too. Pull off up here." He points to a grassy field with some trees. As soon as I stop the car I feel weird being alone with him. I stiffen up and Wade notices, "Christ kid you think I'd try something with Tim's sister?"

"I'm not his real sister."

"Beggars can't be choosers."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean Tim is all you have. If he wants to treat you like his sister, I'd accept that."

"What are we doing here then?" My words hang in the air. Suddenly I'm aware that Wade really isn't sure. So I lean over and kiss him. I expect him to pull away; but he grabs my face and kisses me harder. When we pull away he curses but I pull him towards me again and we make our way to the back of the car.

"This isn't... uh... your first time or anything?" Wade awkwardly asks while he's pulling my pants down.

"No." I laugh.

I know I shouldn't be doing this. Wade is a no good hood; but my dad just died and I want a distraction. Wade said he was trying to distract me. That's how I justify it at least. He was the 3rd guy I'd ever slept with; which I thought was pretty good for my side of town. Clearly, it wasn't his first time either. When we finish he gets into the driver's seat.

"I shouldn't have done this. Fuck you can't tell Tim. I have a girlfriend. Amy, I'm so sorry." I realize what he's getting at and am actually relieved.

"Wow, slow down. I'm not trying to steal you away from anyone. I don't want to date you. Not that that would be a bad thing." I add the last part to spare his feelings, "I mean, this is a one time thing. I'm not trying to make it a habit." Wade slumps.

"Sorry Amy. I didn't mean for this to happen."

"Distraction, right?." I half smile and he grins at me, "But let's just pretend it never happened." Wade drops me at the DX. Soda and Steve are working.

"Amy was that Wade that just dropped you off?" Steve gives me a questioning look and I wink at him, "Whore. He's dating someone you know."

"Well I know now. Don't say anything." Steve nods.

"What were you doing with him in the first place?" Suddenly, I remember why Wade was distracting me. The tears come and Soda grabs me in a hug while they both try to figure why I was all of a sudden a crazy person. I retell the story of last night and Soda reminds me there's always a couch at his house.

I spend the next month trying to forget the death of my father. It felt weird to miss him since he had always been such a shit dad; but at least he had stuck around. Tim dealt with all the funeral stuff; but since Curly and I had smoked before it, my memories of the actual ceremony were hazy. Angela hadn't even showed up. After words, Tim had hit us both upside the head and told us he better not catch either of us high again. Somehow Tim managed to get custody of the two of us, granted he stayed out of jail - if he so much as got arrested for jaywalking we were to be thrown in a home. He also had to find a place to live; which resulted in us moving into the same apartment complex as Wade. Curly and Tim shared the bedroom, while I slept on a pullout couch in the living room. Tim's gang was always over at all hours so I usually couldn't fall asleep and I had no privacy. It was less than ideal so I spent a lot of time over at the Curtis'. Wade hadn't said anything else about our little indiscretion; but we usually shared a smoke at night out on the porch. Everything was moving forward and starting to settle into a new normal.