Evalynn was surprisingly calm compared to her Soulmate sitting in the driver's seat as they pulled up to the pastel green house in a row of quaint, cookie-cutter homes. The whole block looked like something out of a futuristic, dystopian movie where everybody looks and acts the same. She was out of the car first, but waited for Connor to lead her to the door. When they got on the porch, Connor reached for the handle, but the door was swung open before he could touch it.

Zoe stood there, a frantic look in her eye.

"Dad's pissed. Why'd you bring someone with you?"

"I had to. It's my turn to watch her and my shift isn't over for another hour."

"Your shift? Wait, you're Evalynn Hansen," Zoe realized.

"Hi," Evalynn waved timidly.

"She can come upstairs with me. Mom and Dad are in the dining room waiting for you," Zoe informed her brother.

Zoe grabbed Evalynn's hand, dragging her toward the stairs and leaving Connor to deal with the mess in the dining room. Taking a shaky breath, he headed in to see his parents sitting at their normal spots at the table.

"Hey, son, why don't you take a seat?"

Connor swallowed at the controlled anger in his father's voice, knowing it wouldn't take long for there to be yelling from multiple people in the room.

Zoe shut her door behind her and Evalynn, letting out a breath as she did so.

"What's this about? Why is your dad so mad?" Evalynn asked.

"We, uh, haven't seen Connor much the past few months. My mom told my dad he's been helping out with your recovery and he didn't take it very well. He doesn't understand why Connor would voluntarily spend so much time with strangers instead of with his own family."

"That's not Connor's fault. If anything, it's on you guys for making him feel like he'll never amount to anything."

Zoe looked shocked at Evalynn's words.

"Excuse me?" she demanded.

"You heard me. Maybe if you guys were a little nicer to him, he would actually feel like he's welcome in his own home instead of dreading coming here."

Zoe was about to say something else, but that's when the yelling from downstairs started carrying through the door.

"I'M UNGRATEFUL! YOU GUYS TREAT ME LIKE I'M LESS THAN DIRT! I COME DOWN FOR DINNER AND ALL CONVERSATION STOPS UNTIL I'M OUT OF THE ROOM AGAIN!"

"YOU WATCH YOUR TONE, YOUNG MAN!"

"NO! YOU DON'T GET TO TELL ME WHO I CAN AND CANNOT SPEND MY TIME WITH! EVALYNN IS MY SOULMATE, AND I WILL SPEND AS MUCH TIME WITH HER AS I DAMN WELL PLEASE!"

It got deathly silent downstairs then, and Zoe turned to stare incredulously at the other girl in her room.

"You and Connor are-"

"Yeah, we are."

"When did you two-"

"The first day of school."

"The first-"

"Zoe! Will you come down here, please?"

Zoe opened her door, popping her head out.

"Coming, Mom!"

She glanced back at Evalynn before heading out into the hall. Evalynn hesitated behind her, considering whether or not it was a good idea to reveal herself. Swallowing, she followed the younger girl at a much slower pace as she picked at her cast. She would have been getting the casing on her arm removed in two months, but the healing that had happened since breaking it the first time had gone away when she climbed that tree a second time. They actually had to give her a brand new one, so she no longer had Connor's name scrawled across the side of it anymore.

When she entered the dining room behind Zoe, it was to find her Soulmate looking extremely angry as he glared at an older man with greying hair and a firm set to his jaw. A woman with rust red hair and wrinkles around her eyes was looking worriedly from the man to Connor and back. These, Evalynn assumed, must be the Murphy parents.

"Yes?" Zoe asked, looking to her mother.

"Did you know about this?" her father demanded before his wife could even open her mouth.

"Know about..."

"Your brother finding his Soulmate," he practically spat the last word, as if it was some kind of curse.

"No, I didn't," Zoe shook her head.

Mr. Murphy scoffed, looking past his daughter at Evalynn. Shock registered briefly on his face before he went back to his brooding, angry façade.

"Is that her, then?"

"Yeah, that's her," Connor spoke bitterly.

Evalynn glanced over at her Soulmate. His arms were crossed tightly across his chest and he was still glaring at his father.

"Don't be mad at Connor."

Everyone turned to look at the speaker in surprise.

"Why not?" Mr. Murphy demanded.

Zoe bit her lip before speaking again.

"Because I've been hanging out with my Soulmate lately, too."