The next morning, I woke up with Aster's arms wrapped around me. His breath was warm on my neck, sending chills down my spine. A smile crawled on my lips as I remembered what had happened that night. The way his fingers had slid up and down my back, then landed on the back of my neck. He had massaged my sores with his thumbs. I had been on my tiptoes so I could reach his curls, which were entangled between my fingers.

I had wanted to see every moment, to enjoy every second. I didn't, though. The pure blissfulness that soared through my body had kept my eyes sealed closed, and something told me that his had been, too.

It was my first official kiss, and it was everything I had ever hoped for. Something told me that all the cameras were on us that night. Stace was probably on the couch shrieking, knowing her. How about Caden? Was he mad, disappointed? I knew that he wanted me to get through the Pestilention as quickly as possible. He probably had his hopes risen to the roof by now that I would be sitting next to him on the couch next year. I also knew that he didn't want to get them up too high, just in case my time finally came.

I felt the same way, too. The chances of me surviving through the course had gotten higher and higher with every obstacle that went by. Ed's death had dropped those hopes, though. How could we possibly survive without him? He had retrieved our food and water. He had helped with practically every obstacle we'd faced. He had been our primary go to for help. Now that he was gone, I knew that everything would get harder. That death was a greater possibility now.

I placed my hand on Aster's. If I were to die, I wanted to die with someone. As sappy as it sounded, I knew that having a hint of happiness in my life would make it all less scary. It would make death would be more of a challenge instead of a fear. And who was better to face it with than Aster?

Aster and I being more than friends had never occurred to me until that night. Just being friends was something that I had a hard time being for the longest time. I couldn't find myself in a better position than him resting next to me with his arms clutching me tightly. I knew that he was the person I wanted to be with.

This meant that I would have to tell him what I had been hiding since the beginning. I had bottled it up for so long, since I wasn't sure if it was appropriate to share something so personal with someone that I was barely friends with. But our status was different now.

I knew that he was awake right when his hand clutched mine. Aster scooted over a little to give me room to turn around. I rested on my other side, now facing him.

"I have to tell you something," I whispered. Aster's brows furrowed in concern. I cracked a smile. "It's nothing bad. It's just..." I sucked in a deep breath. "Remember last night, when you told me about you? And that time when we were talking about how everyone here had a bad secret?"

He nodded. I sat up, not letting go of his hand. Aster followed, crossing his legs. His knees touched mine.

"I think it's about time I told you about my family problems," I said.

Aster shook his head. "You don't have to."

"But I want to," I insisted. His glasses started to slide down his nose. I couldn't help but smile when he didn't slide them back up. "I was mad at you for not telling me about yourself when I haven't told you anything about me. Don't worry, it's not a big deal."

I sucked in a deep breath before starting. My wheels spun as the memories flooded back, clear as day. My parents had always had poor chemistry. They seemed to have fought every night. I used to sit with my brother, zoning out their voices with the TV. It usually worked. There were nights when I didn't know that they were fighting. Caden had turned up the show before I could notice.

I told Aster about one specific night. Caden had forgotten to turn up the TV. The door had swung open and my dad had walked into the house. Objects had fallen as he stumbled into the living room. My mom had been sitting on the couch, waiting for him to return from the bar.

She had screamed at him louder than she ever had. Only then did my brother turn up the cartoon. My mom's voice overpowered it. "How dare you walk into this house after everything you've done."

"What'd I do now?" he slurred.

"Ten years and you've kept it from me. You've ruined our family, you son of a—"

Caden had held my small frame close to his chest, making sure that my ears were covered. I had tried to slip out of his grip, but he was rock solid.

Finally, I had tucked my head out from around his arms. My parents' words had grown audible again. "God, I told you not to gamble with him, Jake! But no, you're too greedy to care."

"Sorry."

"Sure. I'm not the one to apologize to, go up and apologize to her."

Caden stiffened. He unlatched me and ran downstairs. "Don't touch Kat!"

"Jesus, boy, get out of my way! I'm 'sposed to...to talk to the kid."

"There was a lot of arguing between my dad and my brother. Which was stupid, thinking back on it, to fight with a drunk guy," I said, laughing slightly. "Well, I heard the glass break. Caden ran back upstairs. Oh god, his shoulder...it was so..."

I stared at my hand, which was still intertwined with his. My palm was sweating, but Aster didn't seem to care. He squeezed my hand gently.

"We left right when Caden turned eighteen," I finally said. "My parents split up a year after."

Aster said nothing. He silently crawled over to sit next to me and wrapped his arms around my body. I rested my head on his chest. I closed my eyes.

"I'm sorry," he muttered under his breath.

I shook my head. "It's not your fault."

I had always thought that that night had been my fault. If it weren't for my brother always needing to protect me, then Caden would have never gotten injured. He wouldn't have to wake up every morning seeing the scars on his shoulder. We wouldn't have had to leave. We wouldn't have had to fend for ourselves, scared and alone.

But it wasn't my fault that my dad left my mom or that he drank. It wasn't my fault that they didn't have a healthy relationship. It was their fault they drove their kids to leave. And that was something that I could willingly accept.

I didn't regret leaving and living with Caden, either. We were happy in our little apartment. We had been happy alone for years.

"Your brother sounds cool," Aster said, breaking my thoughts. I nodded.

"He is."

We sat next to each other silently for the rest of the morning, waiting for Tilly to wake up.

Hello, everyone, happy Tuesday! I feel like we needed this mellow chapter. Now everyone, even Aster, knows what happened to poor Kat and Caden. And don't worry, an obstacle is coming in the next chapter.

For those of you who don't know: I recently have posted songs to represent each of my chapters (check them out, you might discover a new favorite song). I found this to be a cool way to spice up every chapter. If you guys have song recommendations for any chapter, please don't hesitate to talk to me about it. I'd love to hear what you guys think.

This song is calledYoung by Daughter. Just to show how lucky they are to be still breathing. Enjoy. :)