I watched him go. What else was there to do other than watch him walk out of my life? He was so angry. I had no idea what he was going to do in that moment, whether he was going to shout at me and kick me out of the pack or do something worse. I’d never seen him like that.

When the Jeep was out of sight, I found myself sat watching the door for a little while, every rumble of a car engine making me get up and check the window to see if he was coming back. I felt pathetic. Pathetic and stuck here.

When the sun had properly started setting, I began to clean up. I threw away the food that we hadn’t even touched, poured the open bottle of wine down the sink and started doing the dishes, slowly methodically, pleased that my hands were busy doing something instead of itching and waiting for him to come back.

The door opened behind me. There was no rumble of the Jeep, or I was so lost in my own head that I didn’t hear it. An anger bubbled in the pit of my stomach. When he didn’t say anything in the first few seconds of coming in I found words being pulled from my mouth before I could stop them.

“And where the fuck have you been, huh?” I snapped. “You can’t just disappear like that and leave me here not knowing what’s happening. I know I’ve been here for a couple of months but for fucks sake, Dante, I’m still new here. What if something had happened?”

“The car broke down,” he said, his voice heavy. “Just a little way away from the campsite but I had to walk back. And I have someone with me.”

“That’s hardly a way to speak to Dante, Owen,” a voice said.

I threw up a little bit in my mouth.

What on earth was she doing here?

I turned around, my hands wet and covered in soap suds dripping down my front and onto the kitchen floor. I was tongue tied. I had no idea what to say.

“M-m-mom?” was all I actually managed.

She looked different, or did she? It was hard to tell. It had been a good few months since I’d seen here so it’s possible that I wasn’t remembering her correctly, but she looked thinner, that much I could tell. And she was smiling a little. Just light twitches at the corners of her mouth but enough to let me know that, for the first time in the longest time, she was actually pleased to see me. It was a revelation.

Dante was stood by the door, seeming like he was about to leave or was at least thinking about it, even if it is was just to give us some space. But space from him, or space with my Mom on my own, were probably the last two things I could have wanted in the whole world.

“What are you doing here?”

“Well, it’s sort of a long story,” she said. “But I’m pretty shocked to see you being so rude to Dante, I raised you a whole lot better than that.”

I opened my mouth to respond, to come back with something quippy and mean but nothing came. Instead I felt my face flushing because here I was getting told off by my Mom in front of Dante. I felt five years old.

“I found her walking around the forest,” Dante said, quietly, finally looking over at me. His eyes looked a little bit red, like he’d been crying. I should have been the one who was crying, who was upset, who should have left. I shouldn’t have let him beat me out of the fucking cabin. “I was going to tell her that she shouldn’t be out so late when I realized it was your mom.”

“Why did you bring her back here?” I asked, the words coming out a lot harsher than I intended them too. I swear I saw Mom flinch. “Not that I’m not pleased to see you Mom, but shouldn’t you be at Lakeshore?”

“I’m no longer welcome at Lakeshore.”

“Did you leave?”

She chuckled lightly to herself. I don’t think I’d ever seen do that; this was getting unnerving to say the very least. “I either left or I would be thrown out by force. I took the initiative and started walking. I don’t know where I would have stopped, or if I would have stopped for that matter, if Dante hadn’t shown up.” She turned to him, a warmth spreading across her face. “Thank you, Dante. You might have just managed to save my life.”

Who was this woman and what the hell had she done with my mom? My mom was nothing like this. My mom was distant and cold not warmth and homely, had I missed something? Was this all for show to impress Dante? Whatever it was, I could feel myself retreating back into my shell, not wanting to speak to anyone about anything. Every wall that Dante had managed to tear down was being built up again at double speed. I hated that I was reacting this way but I had to take care of myself. I couldn’t let my mom hurt me again.

I dried my hands on a dishtowel and started away from them both towards my bedroom. I didn’t want to deal with this.

I didn’t even make it to the corridor before Mom was standing in my way. The slightest shift, the tiniest switch in her strength and she was quicker than most. She wrapped me in her arms and I wanted to be sick.

“I know this is a lot to take in, sweetie,” she said. “And we can talk more about it in the morning, but I wanted you to speak to Dante for a minute, if that isn’t too much trouble.”

“What are you talking about?”

“We talked about what you two have been going through in the car on the way up here,” she said. “Actually, when the Jeep broke down we ended up having even more time to talk about it.”

I pulled away from her, rounding on Dante. “You told her?”

“She asked.”

“So you told her about the fight, what were you thinking?” I said, my voice hitching. “First you take off, giving me absolutely no idea where the fuck it is you’re going, then you tell my mom on me? What is wrong with you?”

“That’s enough!” My mom’s voice boomed. She guided me over to the living room, sitting me down on the sofa. With a flick of her wrist, she pointed Dante to the same sofa and she took the armchair. “You two need to talk this over,” she said firmly. “I know what it’s been like in Lakeshore for as long as you can remember,” she added. “But you need to open up. You need to talk about things. Communication is so important, it’s…” she trailed off, tears springing to her eyes. “It’s where our mother-son relationship has failed. I should have been there for you, Owen. I should have been there for you when you needed me, instead of closing myself off from you.”

“Yeah, you really should have,” I said, still burning with rage. “I don’t want to fuck this up because of you.”

“I’m sorry I ran off,” Dante said quietly. I turned to him, perhaps a little too swiftly and he flinched. He actually flinched. I felt the beast in my chest quieting, the anger subsiding a little. I felt embarrassed for acting this way, for pushing him away. “I just…I had to get out of the house. It was all becoming a bit too much and Lesander…” He trailed off, taking his eyes away from me and directing his gaze to the floor.

Instinctively, I reached out and took his hand. “Dante, what is it?” I said quietly. “What is it about Lesander?”

“Lesander said he saw you talking to Horus,” he said, turning his gaze back to me, his eyes big and wet. “He said you kept going down there and…” he trailed off again, looking to the ceiling and blinking away the tears.

“That’s what you’re so upset about?” I couldn’t believe it. It didn’t make sense. “I did talk to Horus,” I said. “I don’t know why you’re getting upset about it.”

“Because you’ve been pumping him for information,” he said, raising his voice a little.

“What?” What on earth was he talking about?

“Lesander said he heard you asking him about me, trying to find out how to please me, the things I liked…” He trailed off and shook his head. “You’ve been using him and you’ve been using me. You don’t really care about me.”

I wanted to cry. The tears sprang to my eyes so quickly I didn’t even get a chance to stop them, they just started flowing down my face, cascading off my jaw.

“I can’t believe you’d say something like that,” I whispered.

“Prove me wrong,” he shrugged.

I was feeling so stubborn I almost didn’t want to. It would be easier to just walk away from all of this, but my heart kept telling me not to. My heart ached for him and wanted him to understand what had happened.

“I spoke to Horus because this is all so new to me,” I said. “He guided me at the start, of course he did, because I have never done the relationship thing before. At no point did I pump him for information, at no point was I using him, at no point did I lie to get you to care about me.” He looked up at me, his eyes big and hurt. “I care about you, Dante, how can you not see that? Everything I have done, I’ve done because I care about you.”

“Oh, Owen, I’m so –“

He’s interrupted by the door crashing open, coming clean off its hinges and clattering to the floor. Mom screamed, jumping from the armchair and moving out of the way.

Standing in the doorway was Lesander, his eyes wild and angry, his breath ragged and heaving. His eyes find us and I feel a panicked rush cover my entire body. Dante tensed next to me. We were in trouble now.