I take a low dosage of Tylenol and hate myself for running after my sister. My back is on fire and any progress that I've made in the last 24 hours is gone. I hope I didn’t just injure myself worse, but there are bigger things to worry about. One of those things being my little sister needing to get out of the house right now, and the second thing being that I also need to get out of this house and away from my parents right now.

When I crutch out of my bedroom, Hallie is sitting outside of her bedroom door leaning against it. Her skates are in her hand, and she wears a pair of grey leggings and a white turtleneck.

"Ready?" she wipes at her eyes again as she talks and the way her voice quivers makes me sadder.

I nod and hold my keys up.

"I am not going down there first," she crosses her arms over her chest so tight that I think she’s trying to hold herself together. I know as the big sister I have to protect her. I hand her my crutches and put my hand on her cheek before pulling her in for a hug.

"I'll go," I force a smile onto my face, even though I'm trying really hard not to cry. I have to stay calm for Hallie’s sake.

Using the railing as leverage to help me get down the stairs, I hear the light sounds of Hallie's chestnut colored moccasins tapping down the steps behind me. When we reach the bottom our parents are still sitting at the table, not speaking to one another, and staring off into space.

"I'm taking Hallie to the rink," I open the front door before they can object and a gust of wind almost knocks me off of my crutches. When get into my car and I start pulling out of the driveway, my mom is peaking through the living room curtains as us.

"Who do you think we'll have to live with?" Hallie says after a few minutes of silence.

I shake my head at the thought and stare at the road ahead of me.

"I guess whoever we want," I shrug. I don’t have it in me to think about this kind of stuff right now.

"Well, you're over sixteen so you can make that decision,” she sniffles. “I don't think I can.”

"How do you know that?"

"Google," she stares down at her phone reading intently. I snatch it out of her hands and set it in the center console.

"No Google searching right now. Just get on the ice and blow off some steam," I pull into the first parking spot of the rink and sigh in relief when I see Graham's silver FJ Cruiser in the lot.

"Someone's here," Hallie frowns as she looks at his car.

"I know. Just get out," I lock the doors as she shuts her door and we walk inside together. When we reach the door, she holds it open for me, and I crutch my way into the rink.

“We can’t just interrupt someone’s private ice time,” Hallie shivers from the cold as she holds the door open from me.

“Just let me handle this, okay?”

“If you say so,” she rolls her eyes and closes the door behind us causing a loud echo to fill the building.

As we approach the ice, Graham is shooting pucks into the net like rapid fire, each one goes in flawlessly, and I cough to get his attention. He whips around on his skates, and I swear the smallest fraction of a smirk appears on his face. Within seconds he's standing in front of us. His brunette hair is stuck to his forehead from sweat, and his cheeks are a light pink color.

"How can I help you, ladies?" He looks down at Hallie and smiles before returning his gaze to me.

"I need a favor of you,” I lean against the wall for support and sigh. “And, you owe me.”

His face softens, and relief washes over me.

"Anything," he looks at my crutches and guilt crosses over his face when he meets my eyes. “What do you need?”

"Do you think you could spare some of your time for my little sister? We've had a rough night," I swallow the lump that's been in my throat since my dad dropped their divorce on us and watch as Graham turns around and runs a hand through his hair.

"Yeah, I was just about to clean up anyway," he looks down at Hallie. "You can go put your skates on," he gives her a small smile that I know she'll be talking about the second we get into my car later. She takes off running toward the locker room, and I sigh again.

"Thank you," my lips twitch and I bite down on my lip to hide my smile.

"I owed you one," he smiles at me and motions behind me. "You should sit though, you shouldn't be standing so much."

Without another word, he spins on his skate and quickly gathers all of his cones and pucks before tucking the nets out of her way. He heads into the locker room just as Hallie is coming out of the women's and he high-fives her on her way to the ice.

Watching my sister take the ice, I remember being her age and how amazing it felt to be so small and glide across the ice as if I were one with it. She starts with the same warmup that I always start with, and I pull my phone out of my pocket to text Sienna.

"I'm going to play some music on the speaker, okay?" Hallie skids to a stop in front of where I’m sitting, sending flakes of ice into the air. Show off.

"As long as you don't play any of your awful, depressing music.”

"Fine," she rolls her eyes.

A pop remix comes over the speaker, and my sister looks at me and sticks her tongue out.

"For the record, my music is much better than this crap!" she yells from across the ice.

I look back down at my phone and I'm typing a long message to Sienna when a throat clears in front of me. I look up, taking in his white Adidas, black Adidas sweatpants, and navy blue hoodie as I make my eyes up to his face. He’s so easy on the eyes, and seeing him dressed like this doesn’t help matters.

Without me offering, he sits down next to me and pulls his phone out of his pocket.

"How'd you know I'd be here?" he asks without looking up from his phone.

"Online," I shrug.

"She's good," he looks up from his phone and nudges his head towards my sister who is now doing jumps to the music that she's playing.

I nod my head and laugh.

"Trust me” I laugh. “She knows it too.”

"Do you wanna talk about it?" he looks at me, and his eyebrow twitches when his eyes meet mine.

"Talk about what?"

"You said you two had a rough day, and her nose was red… a little too red to be just from the cold," a knowing look forms on his face.

"Oh, you don't have to listen to me complain about my life," I look back down at my phone, hoping that he'll leave.

"I want to,” he shrugs. “I owe you.”

"You gave her your ice time, we're even now," I let out a deep breath and feel pain shoot through my tailbone. I try to hide my wince but his eyes are fixated on my face, and his facial expression immediately changes.

"How long are you on crutches?"

"Two weeks, three weeks off of the ice," I laugh.

"Why are you laughing?" he runs his tongue over his lower lip and I look away. It’s hard to deny how cute he is. I wish he wasn’t, but right now he’s providing a good distraction from my life.

"Because I sound like a broken record. I've had to repeat that same line approximately forty times today," I realize how bitchy I sound the second the last word leaves my mouth. Great. Now he’ll think I’m an asshole.

He nods. "Sorry," hurt flashes across his face, and I instantly feel bad.

"You don't have to be sorry," I look at him and his hazel eyes sparkle from the lights above us. For a split second, I let myself get lost in them, and I forget all about everything that went down tonight. "My parents are just fighting," I lie. I know it’s more than just a fight, but he doesn’t.

He places his warm hand on my thigh. It’s the kind of gesture that says ‘I’m here for you,’ without the person needing to say it. I don’t know what he sees in me, or why he’s being so nice to me. He doesn’t even know me.

"I’m so sorry," his words are so sincere that they make my eyes prickle. I blink to avoid crying, and his hand grows warmer on my thigh with every second that passes. I'm startled when I hear the music around us shut off, and he quickly pulls his hand off of my leg. His eyes lower from mine, to the ground, and then to the ice where my sister stands with her hands on her hips. Fortunately she’s far enough from the two of us to have not seen our physical contact. She’d have a field day with that.

"Scar, are you ready to go?"

"Uh, yeah, just got put your shoes on and I'll meet you at the car, okay?" I yell across the ice. She throws her hand in the air shooing me away.

I roll my eyes. A half hour on the ice and the brat is back. Everything feels normal for the first time in the past hour.

I'm trying to push myself off of the bleacher that I’m sitting on when Graham stands in front of me and places his hands under my arms. He lifts me out of my seat as if I'm as light as a feather. I look up at him, and his hands stay on my arms for a few seconds too long. I bite down on my lip and slowly pull myself away from his grasp.

"Thanks," I look at my feet, and he hands me my crutches.

We walk toward the door together and an awkward silence fills the air.

"You never answered my email this morning," he looks down at me and runs a hand through his messy hair. His hazel eyes are locked into mine. My God. He's beautiful.

"I know," I shake my head at myself, my cheeks burn from him calling me out. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," he slings his book bag over his shoulder and pulls his phone out of his pocket. "But in this day and age, texting is easier, so if you'd like to put your phone number in here... I wouldn't object," he smiles as I take his phone from his hand. I type in my name and number and hand it back to him without saying a word. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow, Scarlett James."

He gets into his car and gives me a small wave before his engine turns on. My heart is pounding, and I feel dizzy. Graham Ryan just asked for my phone number.

I feel a hand on my back, and when I look down, my sister is standing next to me wearing her thick coat and a knit hat, shivering.

"How long have you been there?"

"Just long enough to see you making eyes at Graham Ryan," she bats her eyelashes. “Oh, and long enough to hear Graham Ryan ask for your number," she winks.

I groan. "Just get in the car, dweeb," I roll my eyes, and she throws her head back in laughter.

"Graham Ryan has a crush on you," she giggles. I turn the car on, ignoring her annoyance.

"You're annoying," I turn down our road and wish we could have stayed out all night to avoid our reality. "But, I love you, Hal."

"I love you too, Scarlett. Thank you for taking me," she looks over at me and smiles.

As annoying as she may be, she needs me right now. And as much as I hate to admit it, I need her too.