The rain pattered against the roof and filled his bedroom with the soothing rhythm, but he didn't find the comfort he usually did. He'd moved to the corner by the window and his bed and buried his face in his arms without even bothering to change out of his wet clothes. He didn't want to be bothered. He knew his mother wouldn't come in without his permission - that had been their deal years ago when she'd first worried about him. He was more worried that Nico would find him.

Clancy was out in the hall, and Tyler was sure he had no intention of coming in any time soon. He felt awful that he'd snapped at him. And he felt worse knowing that he'd yelled at his mother over practically nothing when all she'd been trying to do was help him.

The door opened just a crack and Tyler heard someone come toward him, his footsteps barely audible. The intruder sat down on his bed by the footboard, by the same corner Tyler was hiding in. They didn't speak for a long time. The room was silent except for the rain and Tyler's occasional sniff.

"She just doesn't get it, does she?" Nico said softly, breaking the silence almost gently.

Tyler just shook his head and didn't speak. He knew his voice would waver and crack, and he didn't want him to hear that.

"There has to be some way to make her understand."

"I have to apologize," he said, and sure enough, his voice cracked, and he tried to make himself look smaller. He wasn't sure how long he'd been there, but his legs were going numb and his back hurt. He wished it would go away so he could stay here forever.

"You can't do that now," Nico said. "Not yet. Your siblings are home. You can't let them see you like this. What would they think? You're their older brother."

"I'm a pathetic older brother," he mumbled.

"Maybe, but they shouldn't expect you to be perfect."

"She always said I was her perfect little angel. I remember her telling me that all the time as a kid."

"Then what happened?"

"I grew up," Tyler said bitterly. "She found out that I'm just as human as everyone else."

"Maybe."

"Can't she see that I'm trying my best? I'm trying really hard. I'm doing exactly what she wants me to do." He was in tears again, but he didn't bother wiping them away. "I stay in basketball, I pass my tests, I'm trying to get a scholarship so I can go to college, I try to talk to her - I even pretend you guys don't exist, just for her. Can she not see any of that?"

Nico shrugged. "Guess not."

"She must not love me very much then," Tyler said, glaring at the wall as the tears spilled down his cheeks.

"Then why would she try to help you? If she was trying to help at all, I mean."

"She probably doesn't want a freak for a kid."

"I don't think you're a freak."

"That's just the problem," Tyler said, rubbing his nose with the back of his hand. "You guys are the reason I'm a freak."

"In my defense, the only one making a scene was Clancy," Nico pointed out. "You snapped at him, not me."

Tyler sighed softly. "I need to apologize to him, too."

"I doubt he'll talk to you."

"Why not?"

"You know how sensitive he is. You broke his trust."

That made him feel worse. "If you're trying to comfort me, you're doing a miserable job," he muttered.

Nico shrugged again. "Yeah, well, the first step to change is to acknowledge why something went wrong."

"Then why did everything fall apart today, huh? It was going perfectly and then my mom just had to come in yelling."

"I don't know. You'll have to figure it out."

There was a knock on the door, and Tyler flinched in surprise. "What?" he said, his voice cracking. He hoped whoever it was hadn't heard his conversation with Nico, but with his luck, they'd probably heard the whole thing - or at least they'd heard everything Tyler had said.

"You okay in there?" his sister asked.

"I'm fine. Go away."

"Mom told me to come get you."

"Tell her I'm not coming down."

"Fine. Mom! He said he's not coming!"

"If she really needed you, she'd come and get you herself, wouldn't she?" Nico mused.

"Shut up," Tyler grumbled.

"I mean, how hard could it be to come up and ask for you?"

"I said shut up. I don't want to talk to you anymore. You're not helping."

"Alright, you don't have to lash out at me. What have I done?"

"Existed." Tyler threw his hands in the air in frustration. "You exist, that's what you've done. If neither of you existed, I wouldn't have a problem, would I?"

"Yeah, but if I didn't exist, you'd be lonely and completely anti-social," Nico pointed out. Tyler hated that he wasn't lying. "I help you more than you want to admit, don't I?"

This time, the knock was softer. "Tyler," his mother said softly, her voice barely audible. "Tyler, honey, may I come in?"

"No," he said, turning his head to stare out the window.

"I want to apologize for getting upset earlier."

"Then why'd you tell Maddy to get me?" he asked. "Why couldn't you get me yourself?"

"I had an entirely unrelated question, but now I can see that you're still upset. May I come in, please?"

"Of course I'm still upset." His voice cracked again, and a few hot tears leaked from his eyes and left new streaks down his already tear-streaked face. "You think I'm a freak, don't you? Because I'm so lonely I make up imaginary people to keep me company. I'm just a messed up, psychopathic freak."

The door opened and soft yellow light spilled into the room for just a moment. It was gone as the door shut softly, and he buried his head in his arms as if that would hide him from his mother.

"Hey," she said softly.

"Leave me alone," he said, his voice muffled by his wet hoodie sleeves.

Instead, she sat down on the floor beside him. "I'm so sorry if that's how my words came across. That's not what I meant to sound like," she said quietly. "I just...I just can't help you if I don't know what's going on."

"I don't need help," Tyler said, but he wasn't sure if he was lying or not.

"I just want to know what's going on. Can you tell me that?"

"No."

She put her arm around his shoulders and he stiffened. Don't touch me, he wanted to say, but his voice didn't come out.

"I don't think you're a freak, and I don't think you're messed up. I love you so much, Tyler, and I'm so sorry you feel lonely. What can I do to change that?"

Her voice was so gentle. He wanted to relax, but his body wouldn't let him. "Nothing," he said, his voice wavering. He didn't want to cry in front of her, but he couldn't stop. "You can't do anything. You can't make the guys on my team like me. You can't make the neighbors change their minds about me. You can't make Maddy and Jay and Zack talk to me like normal kids. You can't make Clancy and Nico go away."

She was quiet for a long time as he sat there and cried into his arms. She rubbed his back gently and shifted closer to him, and he found himself leaning against her warmth like he used to do as a child. "Are they here?" she whispered.

Tyler didn't need to ask who she meant. He just nodded and rested his chin on his arms to get a breath of fresh air and look at the room. "Nico's on the bed. Clancy's out in the hall."

She glanced at the bed, but of course, couldn't see anything. "What's...what's he doing out there?"

"He's mad at me," Tyler said, hating how stupid this all sounded.

"Why?"

"Because I yelled at him. He doesn't like it when I yell."

There was another pause here, and they listened to the rain in silence for just a moment. "Does it help to talk about them like..." She hesitated, and Tyler cringed. She was trying her best, but it made him feel pathetic. "Like they're real?" she whispered.

He nodded again. He could almost feel Nico's glare on his back.

"Can you...can you tell me about them?"

"Depends on what you ask."

"Alright, how about...can we start with how they look?"

Tyler nodded and sniffed again, his quivering breaths shaking his whole body. "Clancy looks a lot like me. He...he's got short brown hair that - that kind of sticks up like mine." He couldn't find the words he wanted to say. That always happened when he spoke to other people. "Um...he always wears a baggy greyish dress shirt that doesn't fit him. And - and Nico -"

"Don't talk about me," Nico said.

Tyler didn't look at either of them as he spoke. Instead, he stared at the wall. "He always wears black. Usually a hoodie, but sometimes he takes it off and there's a black shirt underneath. And a red beanie. He always wears a red beanie just like mine."

"Don't talk about me," Nico repeated, his voice cold and hard.

Tyler tried to ignore him and took a deep breath to tell her about the darkness on his neck and hands, but Nico snapped at him again.

"I said, don't talk about me."

His voice sounded louder and sharper than he'd ever heard it, and Tyler flinched involuntarily. "Sorry," he said.

"What is it?" his mother asked gently.

Tyler glanced at Nico and then dropped his eyes again. "Nothing. Nothing."

"May I ask another question?" she asked.

"You just did," Nico grumbled.

Tyler nodded once again and didn't say anything. He just shifted closer to his mother's comforting embrace. He felt himself finally starting to calm down and tried to relax.

She was quiet for a minute. "You said that they're usually nice. What are they like?"

Tyler didn't know what to say. What would he tell her that wouldn't scare her or make Nico mad? "Um..." he said hesitantly. "Well...Clancy's scared of a lot. I...have to help him s-sleep at night, because he's too scared. He follows me pretty closely, and, uh...well, he's usually trying to help, but it doesn't always work."

His mother nodded slowly. "What about Nico?"

Nico immediately snapped upright, his body stiff as a board, and stared right at him, daring him to say something.

Tyler shifted slightly and dropped his gaze to the floor. "I can't tell you about him."

"Oh." She wanted to ask why. Tyler could hear the unspoken question in the air. But she didn't ask, and for that, he was grateful. Then she asked a question that caught him off guard. "Do they ever threaten you or hurt you?"

"Why would they do that?" he asked in confusion.

"I don't know. It was just a thought."

"I'm done talking about them," he decided suddenly. He could feel the pressure that had built in his chest ease up a little. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Nico relax his glare and lean back nonchalantly against the wall.

"Oh," his mother said, sounding slightly startled. "Okay. Thank you for telling me, Tyler. If there's anything I can ever do for you, let me know, okay?"

"Okay." He nodded.

"Do...do you want to help me with dinner?"

"Not right now."

"Alright. Come down when you're ready. I love you, Tyler."

"Love you, too, Mom," he echoed blankly.

She leaned over and gave him a kiss on his forehead, just like she used to do when he was little, and then she stood up and sighed. Nico just glared at her with fire in his eyes as she quietly left the room.