I felt Uncle Bucky tense behind me and I shifted to stand more in front of him, looking back at the blonde in front of me.

It took me another moment for my brain to kick into enough gear to respond, "Claire… I didn't know you worked here."

There was a time I would have known the second she even chose to apply. When I would have helped her with her application, hyped her up before the interview, and happy-danced with her in one of our bedrooms when she got the job. That was when we were still best friends. Now? Now I knew nothing about her. But she was still the one person I tried to restrain my temper for. No matter how much she pushed my buttons. It was too ingrained in who I was.

Her hand shifted to her hip, "Likely story. Everyone knows everyone's business in this place."

"Then you should know I've been away since the fall. Not really in the 'town loop' anymore."

Her eyes narrowed. "Right, supposedly moved in with your 'dad'. How convenient for you to finally find him." She jerked her head toward Uncle Bucky, "This him?"

I shook my head. "No. An uncle."

"Damn, you really got a whole new family."

She didn't know the half of it. I gave a forced chuckle, "Guess so. Wanted to test his skills here. So will you just let us pay and go in?"

She raised a brow, "In a rush?"

Don't rise to the bait. Don't rise to the bait. I gritted out, "Have to head back to New York City shortly."

She gave a low whistle, "Fancy city girl, now, huh. Bet you're rubbing shoulders with all the bigshots."

Ignoring the dig, I tried again, "C'mon, I know things went south between us, but can we not do this? I just want to play some arcade games. Not get into this."

She rolled her eyes. " 'Things went south,' I suppose that's one way of putting it. You abandoned me!"

I winced and took a step back, "I'm not doing this again, you know what, nevermind, we'll just do something else."

I hated backing down but really didn't feel like dealing with this right now. I turned back to him, "Let's go."

He glanced with concern between me and Claire, "I thought this was what you wanted to do?"

"I changed my mind."

I pushed his arm and he gave way, turning to go ahead of me back out to the street.

I sighed as we entered back into the cool air, but it wasn't over yet apparently.

The Arcade door didn't get the chance to fully close, instead violently swinging back open to reveal a red-faced Claire who had followed us out.

My shoulders dropped in defeat. Guess there was no avoiding this. I gave a pleading look to Uncle Bucky, "Go wait by the hardware store, let me handle this?"

He crossed his arms, eyes clearly assessing Claire as a threat, "Not a chance."

No. Of course not.

I turned back to Claire who was quickly approaching, her finger pointed out accusingly, "You think you can just walk away from me?! Then again, it's what you're used to, isn't it! Some friend you were! Disappearing when I needed you most!"

Welp. I could only restrain myself so far.

I stepped toward her, feeling my face contort in anger, "You're KIDDING me, right!? How many times do I have to tell you!? It. Wasn't. About. You! Yes. Brad was an absolute douche, and everything that happened between you too… that sucked. But if anyone is the bad friend here, it's you! I wasn't there to help you through a break-up, because my life was falling apart!"

She took a surprised stumble back. Even after everything had gone down, I had never yelled at her. This was her first time ever receiving the brunt of my anger. And my hurt.

She opened her mouth to retort, but I kept going, "My mother was dying! I was terrified! She was my whole world! I had no idea that my Dad was out there— when she died I thought I was going to be alone. Sent into the system. Forced away from everything and everyone I had ever known. I was going to have no one. Except you. And then, you decided you couldn't handle that. Couldn't handle me not hanging out with you every day because I was spending time with her instead. Trying to get every last precious second with her that I could. You couldn't handle watching my misery. You didn't know how to comfort me or distract me, so YOU. Abandoned. ME. You know what's harder than being there for a friend because they're watching their parent die?! BEING THE CHILD WATCHING THEIR MOTHER FADE AWAY IN FRONT OF THEM. WATCHING THEM COUGH UP BLOOD AND PRETENDING YOU DIDN'T SEE IT BECAUSE SHE'S TRYING TO HIDE IT. LISTENING TO HER VOMITING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT. AND IN THE MORNING. AND THE AFTERNOON. WATCHING HER TRY TO KEEP EATING EVEN THOUGH SHE CAN'T KEEP ANYTHING DOWN. WATCHING HER GIVE UP."

I was crying by now, in big heaving sobs as I struggled to breathe. I took a few deep stabilizing breaths, my next words coming out flat as I met Claire's eyes as she stared at me in horror, "But you wouldn't know any of that, would you? Because you took off right at the beginning. When it was still just a diagnosis, one that felt like a lie because aside from a little pain, she seemed normal. And because she seemed normal, you felt that knowing she only had months left, was not a good enough reason for me to prioritize her, over helping you deal with Brad… At least you were better off without him. There was nothing good about me being without my mom. So, stop playing the pity act. I'm sick of it."

She stared at me, open-mouthed, "Y/N…"

I shook my head, and turned to stalk out of the alley, Uncle Bucky following me.

"Y/N, wait! Please! I'm so-I'm sorry! You're right! I was a horrible friend! Please, let me make it up to you!"

I turned on my heel, snapping back to look at her, "How could you possibly make that up to me? And why should I even let you?"

She hiccupped though her own tears now streaming down her face, "Because of what we used to be— Please… seeing you facing those realities of life… it scared me. Thinking of that happening to my own parents, and I was weak and instead of being the friend you deserved… I ran away, and left you to face it on your own, and I focused on my stupid little problems, and on being bitter over Brad, and I let it destroy the most important relationship I ever had —our friendship… I am so sorry, you deserved so much better from me, and I want the chance to try and make up for it…but you're right… I have no idea if that is even possible…"

Her words chinked at my anger and I caved. But I was nowhere near ready to forgive her yet. I sighed, "I'll think about it. Your number is the same?"

She nodded.

"Okay. Then I might be in touch."

I gave a slight nod goodbye, grabbed Uncle Bucky's hand and dragged him out of the alleyway, practically running down the sidewalk. Eventually, I slowed to a normal walking pace, letting out a big sigh.

Uncle Bucky shifted awkwardly next to me, "Y/N—"

"I don't wanna talk about it. Please."

"Okay."

A moment of silence.

"So, what now?"

I thought for a minute. We still had just over an hour until we had to leave. What else was there to do here…

"How do you feel about rental shoes?"