Tyler,

I know what I did was stupid. I shouldn't have told Vera everything. I probably should've given her parents a chance to explain themselves. But what's done is done.

Her parents said that she talked to them but then ran out. I tracked her down to Seashell Diner. I don't think she would want to talk to me, but she needs to talk to someone. Someone needs to take care of her. Can you please talk to her?

-Jordan

~Jordan~

I closed the glove box.

I was sitting in my car in front of a 24-hour diner trying to figure out how the heck you talk to a girl. I felt like I was in middle school. Disgusted, I shook my head and dragged myself out of the car.

I walked in through the side entrance and took a seat in a booth across from Vera. She didn't notice as she looked out the window next to her. I had a perfect view of her pain-ridden face in the reflection of the glass in front of me.

I wanted to talk to her. I wanted to tell her that everything would be okay. I wanted to tell her that she was the same Vera she always had been, that this changes nothing. I wanted to hug her as she cried out her tears knowing that there was someone there for her, always in her corner, waiting for her whenever he his needed. No matter what.

But I couldn't. I knew that the moment she saw me, she would run. And I'm not sure I could find her again after that. Our houses, the diner, and the woods were the only places we hung out and the woods were no longer a viable option since Jason's death.

I pulled out my phone and scrolled the text that I had sent earlier. I read the response Tyler sent.

Tyler: It's fine, man. It's not your fault. We should've said something earlier anyways.

Tyler: And of course I will talk to her. You never needed to ask.

I responded a quick "Thank you" before stuffing it back in my pocket. Five minutes later, Tyler's car was pulling up into the parking lot. He got out, hands in his basketball jacket as he shielded himself from the slight breeze that picked up through the night.

Tyler slid into the seat across from Vera and she looked up, her expression unreadable. Tyler's back was facing me.

"Hey," he said.

"Hi," she responded quietly and placed her head on her hands.

"Jordan told me what happened."

"Did he?"

Tyler nodded. "They sent me here to talk to you."

"Why didn't he try to talk to me himself?"

I want to.

I started to debate whether or not I should reveal my location.

"We figured that you wouldn't want to talk to him and run instead."

Vera sighed. "You're right. I probably would've."

I crushed all thoughts of revealing myself and sat quietly, pretending to flip through my phone.

"Why didn't anyone else come?" Vera asked.

Tyler shrugged. "Alyssa would probably be too direct and harsh."

"True."

"And Julia already has enough on her plate after confessing to Jason's murder."

Which was my fault.

I never should've let her confess. I should've stopped her or confessed myself. But no. Instead I let myself watch as my younger sister took the blame of our older brother's murder all to herself.

Best fucking brother of the year.

"So you're here only because they sent you?"

"That and to get some more alone time with you," he joked. "It's quite hard these days."

Vera shook her head, lips curling up a bit in the corners, before turning back to the window.

"How are you holding up?" Tyler asked after some time.

"I'm fine," Vera replied and she leaned back for moment, deep in thought, before finally adding, "I just can't believe they lied to me."

"Is that your biggest concern?"

Vera hesitated. "Yeah. I mean, the DID is bonkers too, but I always knew there was something strange about me. I could feel it no matter how much I tried to deny it. But I had never payed attention to it. I kind of expected my parents to tell me about something if they knew."

"They believed what they were doing was right."

"Lying is not right."

"No, it's not," Tyler agreed. "But they didn't care. If it meant protecting you, they would do anything, even kill. They thought that lying about it would help you, so that's exactly what they did. They didn't want you to live with the burden of knowing that you could possibly never fit in and live a normal life free of these worries. So they hid it from you."

"I know," Vera admitted. "I just never expected them to lie to me about it."

"Everyone lies at least once," Tyler said. "All of us must've done it multiple times, even to each other."

"I know. But my parents were supposed to be different. They were supposed to be people I could rely on to always do things right, to be the sliver of moral and light in my life that pull me out of the darkness and the wrong things. They were supposed to be my rock. But they shattered into pebbles that were washed away in the river."

Silence ensued until Tyler tenderly brushed a strand of her hair to the side and rested his fingers on her cheek, "We're still your rock."

Vera gave him a long, hard look before giving him a small smile. "I know."

Tyler rubbed her cheek once with her thumb and leaned back. "So," he said after a moment, "how are you taking the DID?"

"It's okay."

"Just okay?"

"Yeah."

"So I shouldn't run around trying to get Multiple Personality Disorder to see how it is?"

"No," Vera said sternly. "You shouldn't. Getting kidnapped and thrown out of a car is not fun."

Tyler pouted and whined jokingly, "How do you know? You don't even remember!"

"No," she repeated.

Tyler gave a dramatic sigh, "Fine."

Vera gave a small smile before becoming serious again. "What's my other side like?"

"Your other side is..." Tyler hesitated, "a storm."

Vera wrinkled her nose and gave a sad look. Tyler quickly tried to explain himself.

"It's not a bad thing. I mean, she's still an amazing person too. She's just a bit more head-strong. Kind of follows her own rules. Doesn't care what other people say and definitely won't listen to them. She has this sort of pull that makes others listen to her but not want to at the same time. A little more rebellious."

"She sounds awful."

"She's not. She's like Alyssa but just a tad bit more reckless," Tyler summed up.

"Anyone more reckless than Alyssa is trouble."

Tyler shrugged. "Possibly. But it's a fun kind of trouble."

"Are you saying that I'm not fun?"

"You're fun in your own way. You're definitely nicer too."

Vera's expression hardened again as her voice dropped. "I hurt you the other day, didn't I? Before the basketball game?"

Tyler tilted his head. "You remember?"

Vera shook her head, "I just remember your pissed off face."

"It's true," he said, carefully choosing his words. "You said some things that were... not the nicest."

"Like what?"

"I shall not repeat. I have a feeling we would get kicked out of here for less."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay. You weren't in the right state of mind. You didn't know what you were doing or saying. Heck, it wasn't even you."

Vera nodded and a silence fell over them until Tyler suddenly slammed his hands on the table.

"I should buy you a milkshake. You must be starving."

Vera's eyes widened as she threw her arms into the air, "No. I'm buying you some ice-cream."

"You are?"

Vera nodded.

"But you're the distressed one here!"

"I'm not distressed."

"And I'm the one giving you a therapy session."

"Well my therapy session has been concluded and I've decided to pay you in ice-cream."

"But..."

"I've wanted to buy you ice-cream ever since you got me through that race alive."

"I will always get you through the race alive," he said. "But fine. You can get me ice-cream. But I'm paying for yours."

"I'm getting a milkshake though. Milkshakes are better."

"They are not!"

"Are too!" Vera waved over a waiter and ordered a strawberry milkshake and two scoops of chocolate ice-cream.

Tyler shook his head at her order. "I don't know why you still order the strawberry milkshake. There's not even any real strawberries in it."

"First of all, that's McDonald's. I can taste the strawberry pieces in the Seashell Deluxe Milkshake. And secondly, I doubt they have any real chocolate in the chocolate ice-cream too."

"They do," Tyler argued. "There's brownie pieces and chocolate chips in the ice-cream. It's heavenly."

From there, the conversation trailed off as they ate their respective orders. I sensed that my time here was up. I was no longer needed, never was. I stood up and made my way back out the side door. The two of them were too involved in their conversation to notice.

I got in the car and started the engine feeling empty inside.

~Tyler~

I sat down on my bed, thinking back through everything that had happened, my mind mostly revolving around Vera.

I sighed. Why was I doing this? I couldn't let her get close to me. Not anymore. Not after everything that had happened. Now the only thing our friendship could bring was pain.

To put it simply, I had secrets. I knew too much. Everyone else knew too little.

They would pay for their knowledge. I would too.

But their price would merely be guilt.

My price was death.

I needed to remind myself what was going on, why I couldn't afford to get distracted or too close. Why I couldn't let my tongue slip as I had almost wanted to. I almost wanted to tell Vera everything when I sat across from her in that booth. But I couldn't. I needed to remember why.

I slid open my desk drawer and pushed aside some pencils and papers. One paper clip didn't move from its spot, tightly glued down to the bottom. I lifted it up, exposing a secret compartment underneath the shelf. I took out the contents of the shelf.

First was a jagged black rock wrapped in a silky dark red cloth. I carefully unraveled it. Dark red dried blood covered one side of the rock from where it slammed through a head that day.

Jason's murder weapon.

I wrapped the rock back up and placed it into the shelf before taking out the next contents. Smooth red cards and a golden pen sat in my hands. I traced the familiar writing of the cards with the golden pen, the swirls forming the words, "Secret Keeper."

I sighed and carefully placed the cards back into the shelf.

I closed the compartment.

Vera: Vote if you want a free snack! And ice-cream or milkshake?

Author: This chapter is dedicated to @cutie_pixie123 for the votes, amazing comments, encouragement, and reviews. Thank you!