I knocked on the front door of the Gupta's residence for the fourth time. Was anyone home? The only car in the driveway was Arya's Jeep wrangler, so she had to be home.

I knocked again, but once more, no one came, so I twisted the knob and it gave way. Did she leave the door open?

I shook my head. Arya was spending too much time with Aaron.

"Arya?" I called out as I removed my shoes before making it up the stairs. "Arya, where are you? Is anyone else home?"

I knew it was rude to wander around in people's house uninvited, but I honestly couldn't care less. I had to talk to Arya, and she wasn't getting rid of me that easily. I walked around to where I remembered her room was. It'd been a while so I could have been wrong, but I made it to the door anyway.

"Arya?" I knocked on the door.

"Go a-away," she said in a drawled out voice.

I arched a brow. "Arya?" I twisted the knob again, and the door opened. "Arya, what are you—?"

I entered the room but stopped in my steps. Arya sat on the floor drinking a bottle of liquor.

"Arya, what the hell?" I snatched the bottle out of her hand, and she glared up at me. "It's three in the afternoon, and you're drinking?"

"Give it to me," she said, almost tripping over herself. She tried reaching for the bottle, but I kept it out of her grasp. "If I wanna drink, I'll drink. Give it to me!"

She tried again, but I wasn't having it. No, this couldn't continue anymore. Arya always drank in my presence, but this was the last straw.

I closed her door and placed the bottle of liquor down onto a nearby dresser. "You need help, Arya." She chuckled. "I always sit by and watch you drink yourself away, but this can't keep happening."

"Don't be dramatic." She smacked my arm. "As if you don't drink."

"I used to drink heavily," I admitted, "but I stopped. I've started drinking again, but I try to do so in moderation. You drink heavily, Arya, and there's no moderation with you."

Her expression morphed into a scowl. "I'm not some alcoholic."

"Then stop." I crossed my arms with a firm look directed at her. "Stop drinking like I did. That's a true test of addiction. Make that bottle"—I motioned to it—"be your last for the next month."

Her eyes expanded. "A m-month?"

I nodded. "If you don't have a problem, my request will be no problem."

Arya shook her head. "That's ridiculous. A month?"

"A week."

"A week?" Her expression still didn't relax. "This is bogus. I don't have a problem."

"Then stop, Arya," I said. "Stop drinking for a week."

"I can stop," she said while moving over to the dresser with the bottle, but I blocked her. She pushed me back. "I can stop anytime I want. I can, but I don't want to. That doesn't make me an alcoholic. It doesn't mean I have a problem."

"You drink all the time," I said. "Every time we're together, you're drinking, and you're drinking the hard shit like whiskey. Arya, we're together a lot. I can't remember the last time we were together that you weren't drinking. Now, I see you drinking in the afternoon? How often do you drink, Arya? How many glasses?"

"None of your business," she replied through gritted teeth. "Stop pestering me."

"And you don't want to stop," I said. "That's the scary part. You obviously have a problem, but you don't wanna admit it."

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"With all the shit already happening in your life, the last thing you want is a substance abuse problem," I told her. "It may numb the pain for a while, but it's not gonna fix it. If anything, it'll make things worse. Thing are already going pretty badly, Arya."

"You think I don't know that?" she said with her expression crumbling. "You think I don't know that everything is a big mess because of me. The others hate me, and it's my fault. Kenji hates me the most, and again, it's my fault. I mess things up for them, and I don't know why I do it, but at the moment it seems like a good idea. I know I'm a mess, and I know things are a mess."

"Then why does it keep happening, Arya?" I asked. "Why do you keep hurting people? Why do you keep ostracizing yourself? Right now, everything you're doing isn't helping anyone, not even you. I have a feeling you know this, so why do you keep doing it."

She thought about it. "I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"I don't know!" she said. "I don't know why I do it, Darian. I don't know why I cut off the others. I don't know why I was so mad at Kenji. I don't know why I exposed Kenji's and Clay's secret, and I don't know why I made Kenji expose his secret. I don't know why I did any of it, but it made sense. When I was doing it, it all made sense, but now, none of it makes sense. Nothing makes sense anymore."

Tears welled up in her eyes, and I hated seeing Arya like this. This wasn't the girl I grew up with.

"You're not coping well," I said.

"What?" She appeared confused.

"You've finally reached your rock bottom," I said, and confusion continued to cross her face. "I've reached my rock bottom before, and it's not fun, but it means one thing. You have to make a change. Your back's against the wall, and there's nowhere else to go. Right now, Arya, this is your rock bottom. You have no friends, except for me. You're pushing Aaron away, like usual. You're ruining relationships and ruining things for yourself. You're drinking your problems away, but it's not really going away. It's being pressed into a corner to grow. You can't keep living this way."

A tear fell down her face. "I don't want to."

"And you won't," I said while taking a step towards her. "You just need to make a change. Own up to your mistakes and face the people you've hurt. And most of all, please get help, Arya. Get help with your drinking; get help with the Aarav situation."

She shook her head. "No, I can't. My drinking isn't bad enough to require help, and I can't tell my parents."

"Arya..."

I had been worried about her ever since Kenji told on her. She wasn't spending the nights anymore, and I bet Aarav loved that.

"I can't tell my parents, Darian." More tears fell down. "You don't get, but I can't."

"Does he..." I didn't even want to finish my statement.

"What do you think?" she said. "He's missed me."

Sick bastard.

"I can't do it," she said while staring past me. "I don't know why, but I can't tell my parents. Please stop pushing for me to tell. I appreciate your help so much, Darian, but it's easy for you, from the outside, to simply say just tell. It's not so easy for me."

She always said this, and she was right. I didn't get it. There were a lot of things I didn't get, and I wished I did, but I couldn't.

"Then the drinking," I said. "You think it's not a problem, but it's only going to get worse. Excessive drinking isn't good for anyone. It only complicates life, and your life cannot afford any more complications."

"Darian, please." She ran her hand through her hair. "Drop this."

"You don't see it," I said, "and this is making things worse. You need to go to rehab."

"No!" Her glare returned. "I'm not that bad."

"Rehab will help," I said. "It'll help with your drinking, and it'll also be good to start therapy. Rehab has that, too, and you could really benefit from it."

She shook her head erratically. "It's not that bad. I can stop. When I want to, but I don't want to."

I sighed. "I can't help you. I can't help you unless you help yourself. Right now, the ball is in your court."

"I'll apologize to the others," she said. "I've been meaning to for a while now. Especially Kenji. I'll apologize to him. I'll apologize to anyone I have to. I'm not going to rehab. I don't need therapy. I'm not there yet." Her eyes welled up. "I'm not that bad."

"Arya," I said while grabbing her hands in mine, "rehab doesn't mean you're bad. Do you know how hard it is to admit you need help?" Obviously, she was struggling with it. "It takes strength. Just like it takes strength to speak up, so I won't pester you anymore."

"Thank you." She pulled me into a hug and buried her face into my chest. "Thank you, Darian. I'll make a change. I promise. Just no rehab. No rehab."

I wasn't satisfied. She needed help. She couldn't see it, but I could.

I did the best I could, but right now, it was up to her.

When we pulled away, we sat on her bed, and I smiled at her. "You should talk to Aaron. Not about Aarav, but anything else. He really cares about you."

Arya shrugged. "Aaron deserves better."

"What do you mean?"

She pursed her lips to the side. "I don't know if I'm capable of it."

"Capable of what?"

"Love," she answered. "I don't know if I'm capable of being in love. I don't know if I want to be in love. I'll never want what you and Kenji have. You guys love each other too much. It seems too painful." She looked up at me with a sad smile. "I'm tired of pain."

Wow. We loved each other too much?

"It can be painful," I said. "But it can also be beautiful. When I see Kenji smile. When I hear his voice. Even when I'm there for his tears. It's beautiful because it's him. When things are going smoothly, that's great, but we're not only there for that. We're there for everything, and I can find beauty in all of it, even if it is painful sometimes. I can find comfort in the pain because at least it's a reminder that we still have what we have."

"That sounds terrible." Arya's lips quirked up at the corners.

"I'll take the pain any day," I said, "because the joyful moments far outweigh it. When I think about Kenji, I smile. I don't cry, and that says it all."

I smiled, and Arya ruffled my hair. "You're lovesick. I don't want that."

I fixed up my hair. "Maybe not yet."

"Not ever." We chuckled, and I tousled her hair, too.

This was the Arya I knew. The one I grew up with. I wanted that girl back.

Then my phone rang.

"Speak of the devil," I said to Arya before picking up. "Hello, Kenji."

"Darian!" His voice came off urgent. "Google yourself."

"What?" I jumped up off the bed. "Why?"

"Google yourself now!"

"Okay." I put him on speaker so I could go to Safari, and I typed in my name.

"What's going on?" Arya moved beside me to watch my screen, and we both froze at what popped up.

It was a video and the title read:

Don't You Just Love It When a Republican Senator's Son Ends Up Being Gay

My throat went dry as Arya gasped.

"You see it?" Kenji asked. "Now, watch it."

I opened the video, and I recognized it immediately. Kenji and I were at Shirley Town Center, making out. I covered my mouth with one hand. Someone recorded me and Kenji that day. My name was even in the description of the video.

Arya glanced up at me. "Darian..."

I was numb as I stared at my screen, but only one thought came through.

"My dad," I muttered.

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* What do you guys think about this chapter? Arya's problems? Her epiphany? Their talk about love? That ending? What do you think will happen in the next part?

* This chapter is short but very important. There will be some big changes coming up.