The second he woke, Dustin knew he had messed up. Morning had brought with it all the harsh realization he should have felt the day before. Slamming into him like a truck.

"Ffffffuck!" He punched his pillow, rasping through an itchy throat and parched mouth. "Oh my god, you fucked up!"

Everything whizzed past him like a film reel of shame. The anger, the righteousness, the things he had said to Eddie. He had tried to sabotage him and Rosie. For what? For a relationship she hadn't even been in for a year. For an ex Rosie had left behind Massachusetts. Both aunt and friend, betrayed.

Sure, the thought of the two of them together made him squeamish. The idea of them doing…things was revolting. In the end, they were the same age, and they clearly cared for each other. He had ruined everything.

"Where's Rosie?" He rasped. She had told him the night before to shower and put his clothes with her laundry to wash. She even filled a flask with water and made him take it to bed. All the water in the world could not have fixed his throat, but at least he could force out some words.

"Gone to work." His mother was already up from the table. "Oh, honey, did you catch something?"

"Uh. Yeah."

"I told you about cycling through that rain with no poncho."

Dustin bobbed his head in agreement. Squeezing sound out through his cotton-filled throat was just too much right now.

"You better have something to eat. I'll get started on some soup. I think there's tea left, too. If your aunt didn't drink it all."

Something his mother had said drifted through the fog in his head. He croaked: "Work?"

"Oh yes. Having a cousin as popular as yours truly pays of sometimes. I talked to Linda at the Megamart - you know the one at Starcourt?"

Nod.

"Well, she passed the word up to the manager that Rosie was looking for something, and he said she could take up shifts with them if she liked. Started at 7:30am, poor thing!"

Rosie didn't walk through the door until after eight that evening, still donning a Megamart smock and slacks. She seemed happy, despite working a 12-hour shift, and heated up some stew before sitting to tell them about her day. They wanted her there again at the same time the next morning, so she skipped off to wash up and do some reading before bed.

She hadn't made eye contact with Dustin the entire time.

He waited until after she had showered and retired to her room before moving. Rosie called him in when he knocked on the door, only to drop her gaze. Clearly she had been expecting his mother.

"Hey."

"Hey."

A cold wind blew up the hallway and across his back.

"I'm working Tuesday." She stated blankly. "I won't be able to pick you up or drop you off as much."

Dustin shut the door against the chill. "Are you glad? That you don't have to drive me around?"

Rosie paused in the middle of organizing her pillows. "Why would I be glad?"

"Because you're mad at me? Which -!" He held out a hand against her glare. "You have every right to be! I was a total butthead."

"You were a bit of a butthead." She conceded, sitting on the edge of the bed. "But I'm not mad at you…any more."

"Y-you're not?"

"No. Look, Dustin. I don't like what you did. But I understand why you did it."

"So we're cool?"

"We will be. I just need to feel it out."

He sighed. There was something weighing on his mind, but he knew now that it wasn't any of his business.

"What is it?"

"I-I guess I'm just curious about you and Eddie."

Rosie inspected her fingernails. "I don't know."

"I could talk to -"

"Don't, Dustin."

"But I want to fix it! I never wanted to see it, but I did! I saw the way you looked at each other. There's something special about it. And I don't want to be the one that ruined that!"

"I don't know…"

"Do you still have feelings for him?"

"Yes."

"Then I need to try."

Just as he had suspected, Eddie was working at the The Hangout all Sunday. When Dustin walked through the door in the middle of the day, the owner sneered and asked what could drive a man like that to drink at such an hour.

"Actually… I'm looking for Eddie."

Joe's eyebrows flew up. "On the hard stuff, eh? What's eating ya?"

"Guilt."

"Oooof. A cold, hard mistress that one. Eddie's out cleaning the kegs. Go down past the restrooms. It's the door opposite the kitchen."

"Thanks."

Not wanting to think about the kind of restrooms or kitchen this place might have, Dustin held his breath as he went down the dim corridor. One of the doors at the end was ajar, and he stepped outside into a narrow alley to find a couple of dirty kegs, and Eddie sitting on a crate smoking. Munson grunted when he saw him.

"Thought you quit?"

"I did. I just…didn't again."

Eddie's eyes were downcast, watching a grimy puddle swirling with grease try to fit down a grate. Dustin searched for somewhere to sit, and settled for carrying over another crate. They were the only (relatively) clean things in sight.

"So this is what you do here?"

"This is what I do."

"Cool."

"Very."

There was that breeze again. Rattling up his spine. Icy. "Eddie…I owe you an apology."

"Hm?"

"I said some things to you that were completely out of line. And I tried to sabotage your rela- um… whatever is going on between you and my Aunt Rosie." Dustin wrang his hands together. "I was wrong about her having a boyfriend, I was wrong to try and interfere, and I was wrong to be so goddamn mean about it."

Munson took all of this in respectful silence. "Thanks."

"So. Um.."

"For what it's worth; I get it. I know why you said those things. Did those things. You thought you were looking out for her."

"I was trying."

"She's lucky to have you around."

Somehow, Dustin doubted that. He still didn't really feel any better. He also didn't quite know how to steer the conversation in the right direction. "She's working in the Megamart now."

"She is?"

"Yup. Well - just since yesterday."

"I guess she won't be driving you around so much any more, then."

Dustin nodded. "Not so much, but…she…I think she misses you, Eddie."

Munson snorted. "Don't be silly."

"She does!"

"I saw her Friday."

"I know. But that's different."

"How?"

"That's. Uh," He struggled to describe it. "That's not how she wants to see you, you know. Not as like, co-babysitters. And definitely not yelling at each other."

"We didn't yell. Much."

"We heard you from the clearing."

"You did?"

"Uh-huh."

"Oh. Guess we did yell a bit."

"Rosie never yells. You know that? I've never heard it before."

"She doesn't seem like the type."

"Don't you get it? That's how much she cares about you!"

"Enough to scream at me in the middle of a forest."

"Yeah!"

Eddie threw the cigarette into the puddle, thankfully, it didn't ignite. "Henderson. Is this your weird way of saying I have your blessing?"

Dustin scratched his neck. "I guess."

"Appreciate it."

"But I'm not calling you 'uncle'."

They both laughed at that, Munson throwing an arm around him and ruffling his hair.

"How about 'Unky'?"

"Fuck off."