Axel didn't say a word the entire drive to Kingston's house. Though I'd tried reluctantly explained to him what Oliver had told me before he disappeared, I was sure the only part he truly took any credence in was the fact that I was the reason his brother was dead. I couldn't blame him. The newfound realization had my entire body frozen, dread building in my chest by the second. The fact I couldn't remember anything from the night only made it a hundred times worse.

Finally, slowing the car along the curb of King's house, he tore his eyes from the road ahead and stared at me with a guarded expression. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"King didn't do it." I reminded quietly. "But he was there. He knows what happened."

"Okay." he unlocked the doors and leaned back in his seat, and though I didn't want to accept it, there was a part of me that wanted to him stop me. But he only sat there, entire body tense, eyes trained out the windshield again.

I unbuckled my seatbelt slowly, but just as I retrieved my phone from the cup holder I touched the top of Axel's hand. "I may not remember what happened, but I didn't mean for him to get hurt, Axel. I didn't mean for him to die."

He averted his gaze and shook my hand off. I took it as my cue to get out. I thought he'd leave without as much as a glance out the window, but he rolled it down once I'd shut his door and whispered, "Be careful."

Then sped down the street, leaving me in the cloud of dirt his tires had kicked up.

I swallowed, trying to keep my composure and walked up the driveway to the front door. I spotted King in his living room-with Serena through the blinds and moved to hide behind the wall, squeezing my eyes shut.

What the hell was she doing here?

"Fai?" King's voice filled the quiet space, a second later he was in front of me, shaking his head. "Are you okay? What are you doing back here?"

I eyed Serena as she approached, arms crossed over her chest, teary eyes shooting frantically over my head.

"We need to talk." I breathed, catching his arm before he could retract it. "About Oliver. About what happened."

Serena's eyes widened, "You told her, King? You said—"

"I didn't say anything!" he snapped, shutting the girl up before she could get another word out. "What the hell are you talking about, Ophelia?"

I touched my palm flat against my chest. "Did I do it? Did I shoot him?"

"Get inside." King's eyes scanned our surroundings, one of his hands falling against the small of my back. "Go!"

Once the three of us were back in the safety of his living room, he fell on to the edge of the beige couch and rubbed his face. "No, Fai, you didn't shoot him."

"Was I the reason he got shot?"

"You got into an argument with Mark." Serena started to explain, perching herself on the arm of the same couch King occupied. "He was wasted and wouldn't let up. He grabbed your hand a little too hard and Oliver shoved him and told him to back off. They started shouting and arguing, and King kept trying to break them up."

King's eyes closed at the memory. I leaned into the back of the black leather recliner for support.

"Then Mark pulled a gun and everyone started screaming." Serena's voice caught and she took a few minutes to recollect herself before she continued. "Oliver and King kept telling him to put it down, but Macy and I, we didn't think it was really loaded. Because where the hell would Marcus have gotten a loaded gun from?"

King threw a sad look her way before he took up from where she'd left off. "He started waving the thing around like a lunatic. I was freaking out. Oliver was freaking out. All three of you girls were scared shitless. I didn't know what to do. Apparently Oliver did, because he started to move closer to Mark and talk him down. Until. . . until Marcus started for you again. Oliver intercepted you and pushed you behind him, Fai. Told Mark to back off, and he pointed the gun at him, Oliver I mean."

"Oliver said I'm the one that made Mark pull the trigger."

Serena looked far beyond confused as she stared at me across the room, but King only shook his head, eying me in confusion. "No, you weren't. You took off in the other direction, distracting Marcus, and Oliver went for him. Trying to disarm him. Mark accidently pressed on the trigger while wrestling with Oliver to keep the gun. Sent two bullets into St. James' chest."

My lips parted slightly in disbelief. Why had Oliver said I'd done it? Is that what he remembered?

"Y. . .you just left him to die?" I asked, horrified. "King, you knew what happened and just left him there? And why can't I remember anything?"

"You were hysterical." Serena piped in again, wiping at her cheeks with the back of her trembling hand. "You wouldn't stop screaming so Marcus popped whatever drugs he had in his glovebox in your mouth so you'd shut up. King tried to call but there was no service and eventually Marcus took all of our phones and made us promise not to say anything."

King rubbed his hands down his face again and shot to his feet. "I was trying to protect you, Fai. All of this. You giving him a second chance, not telling you what happened, it was to protect you. I made sure you were back in your bed that night and when you didn't have a memory of anything the next morning I was relieved. Then you started talking. . . you started talking about Oliver and I knew shit was about to hit the fan."

"You just left him to die." I whispered, my legs finally giving out. I sunk to the ground as I shook my head to myself. "I just left him to die."

"There was nothing any of us could have done." King fell into a crouch beside me, touching a hand to my shoulder. "Especially you."

Serena approached so quietly I hadn't realized she'd gotten up until she whispered, "But there is something we can do now. We can turn him in, King. Get justice for Oliver."

On cue, Oliver appeared against the wall opposite of me, but he looked different. The color had started to return to his cheeks and eyes. I stared up at him, so much I wanted to say, but he only offered the saddest of smiles and nodded.

*

"You need to talk to Ax." Oliver whispered from my bed, eyes trailing me as I paced the room. "Tell him I remembered wrong. I do know you were sitting there with me while I died though, Ophelia. You were the last face I saw before I died."

"But I left you there, Oliver." I threw my hand out in a gesture toward him from where I stood in front of my computer desk. "I left you to die."

"You were drugged!" he snapped, standing. "You couldn't have done anything if you tried, Ophelia. Stop blaming yourself. It's not going to bring me back."

I was about to go on some long, winding spiel of why I should take the blame when Dad's shout form downstairs shook the house and earned a startled look out of Oliver.

"Ophelia! Get down here!"

Confused, and a little scared, I stepped out of my room, feeling Oliver behind me as I crept down the stairs, a surge of relief washing over me when I found Axel shifting in front of the door and not the police department.

King had promised to go down this afternoon, but I had no clue if he was going to include me in his testimony. He had done all of this to protect me, right?

"Hey." Axel whispered, taking in my blotchy, tear stained cheeks, his hardened expression crumbled. "You wouldn't answer your phone."

"It's dead." I had no intention of charging it.

Dad looked between the two of us, shrugging into a jacket, then pointed his finger at me. "I've got to cover for someone at work. Behave yourselves and please have him out by midnight. I love you, Ophie."

I leaned in to my father's hug, needing it more now than I ever had before. "I love you too, Dad."

I saw the look of confliction in his eyes, but he finally decided on slapping a hand against Axel's shoulder on the way out with a quiet, "Take care of our girl, will you?"

Axel looked a bit taken back but managed a nod, both of us watching my father as the door clicked shut behind him. I caught Oliver lowering himself on to the couch in my peripheral, but he didn't say a word.

"Did he fess up?" Axel asked. "Do you know what happened?"

I relayed all the information Serena and King had offered me this afternoon, but Axel looked about as pale and lifeless as his dead brother by the time I'd finished. His right hand was locked around the back of one of the kitchen chairs for support, eyes on the carpet under my bare feet as he tried to process it all.

"The little shit." he eventually muttered and Oliver shot to his feet angrily across the room. "Trying to play hero like always. But this time it. . . it killed him."

Oliver's anger dissipated in the few minutes it took him to cross the room to us. He eyed his older brother with tears in falling and reddening his cheeks further. He'd gained so much color back over the last few hours that it almost looked like he was alive again.

"Tell him I'm sorry." Oliver whispered. "I'm sorry for leaving him."

Tears starting to sting my own eyes as I looked back at Axel and repeated his brother's words. "He said he's sorry for leaving you."

Axel shook his head and for a split second I was sure he was going to turn and walk out of my house to fall apart alone, but he only let his eyes flicker from me to the exact spot his brother was in despite not being able to see him. "I don't know what the hell I'm supposed to do without you here, man."

"Live." Oliver responded, I repeated. "Live for me. Don't take even a second of your life for granted."

Axel straightened slowly before he closed the distance between us and pulled me into his arms. I hadn't realized how desperately I'd needed the security of being in his embrace until that moment. Oliver allowed his eyes to sweep over the both of us before he faded into nothing to my left and I was left in his older brother's arms. The worst part of it was that I wasn't sure who was trying to hold who together, and feared the minute one of us pulled away, we'd break entirely.