“Where were you for the rest of your shift?” Carter asked. He hung his coat up on the hanger in the hallway just before the living room, where Nate sat on the couch watching TV. It was already eight at night.

Nate shifted on the couch. “It took a while to find the sketchbook. Once we did, it was already five minutes to five so I just stayed here.”

“Really?” Carter was skeptical. “And if I ask Simon?”

“He’ll say the same thing.”

Carter leaned against the doorway with an unlit cigarette in hanging from his lips. “I find it hard to believe it took you over three hours to find the book. Wasn’t it where I said it was?”

“No. It was on the bookshelf.” Nate turned the tv off and threw the remote down. “Abby was here a little while ago, by the way. She said she’d be back later tonight.”

Nate pushed passed Carter for the stairs. His uncle reached out, pulling Nate back. “You’ll be down for dinner.”

“Sure thing!" He spoke sarcastically, slamming his door shut.

He honestly had enough of the demands. Since he got there it was chore after chore, getting home by seven every night, completing his homework - Carter watched over him as if he were an elementary school kid - and remaining present during dinner.

He didn't understand that. Why would he have to be there? They'd eaten together, just the three of them, perfectly fine before he showed up.

Nate rolled over on the futon onto his back to stare up at the ceiling, up at the glowing stars.

The room had been Abby's, as well as the family study. She'd decorated it with glowing star stickers on the ceiling, and in the corner of the room was her star show projector. Nate hadn't tested to see if it worked, but he doubted it did.

Abby, his cousin, had been very interested in astrology when she was younger. At Christmas, his mother would always buy her star-themed pajamas, constellation books, star maps, and, when they had the money, a telescope. He’d never actually met his cousin before. She was a lot older than him by about ten years. So even though they would often times attend the same family get-togethers during Thanksgiving and Christmas, the sixteen-year-old would never play with the six-year-old. Not that it really bothered him much.

His mother only had one sibling, Carter. And Carter only had one child, making Abby his one and only cousin. His father had been an only child.

Nate sighed at the stars above, closing his eyes and falling asleep.

Sometime later, Nate was awoken by his uncle's powerful voice shaking the whole damn house with his monstrous roar. Nate jumped up, looking around the pitch black room and moving his hand over the desk for the lamp. He switched it on, shaking his head. “What!” He shouted back.

There was silence after that, then stomping. The door to his room flung open. He’d expected it to be Carter, but Abby stood in the door frame instead. She wore her usual knee-high socks, plaid skirt, and cat shirt. “Foods ready.” Her voice was monotone, as usual. Her entire demeanor, actually, freaked him out.

“Fine. I’ll be down in a second.”

Carla, who was arguably the only person he really cared about in the house, was brilliant in the kitchen. Whenever he and his mom visited them in the summer, Carla would always bake him a fresh apple pie. Since living there, that was no exception. However, there was something a little off about the food selection. It was spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread and a side of salad. Apart from the salad, this was his favorite meal. Carter would never eat something so greasy.

He eyeballed his uncle cautiously as he took a seat across from his cousin. Everyone quietly ate, which was another red flag. They were very big on family dinners just so they could talk about their day. Something definitely wasn’t right.

After a while of this, Nate threw his fork onto the plate.

“What?” Carter asked, sighing. He looked up at his nephew. “Is something wrong?”

“Yeah. Why is no one talking?”

“We figured we’d have a quiet meal,” Carter explained.

“Bull-fucking-shit.”

Carla gasped. “Honey, don’t swear at the table.”

Nate ignored her, adjusting himself in the chair and swinging his arm over the back. “We’re even eating one of my favorite meals. I know for a fact you would never let us eat this for dinner. So what’s your angle?”

Carter sighed. “Why are you so paranoid?”

“Are you going to make me work in the diner, too? I already work my ass off at the bait shop!”

Carter didn’t answer. Not at first. He looked into his nephew's eyes and saw the rage building in them. Since he set foot into the house he had been anything but benevolent. “Is this about your mother?”

At first, Nate wasn’t sure what to say. He gasped a little, mildly offended Carter would even go there. Then he was just pissed. “Are you serious?”

“I know this isn’t an ideal situation for you. I know you hate having to live on the island, but this is the best we got. I’m sorry that your life is a bit shit right now, but your mother is trying to fix it-”

“Oh, right!” Nate threw his hands up. “She’s gonna fix it, is she? Let me fill you in on her ‘fixing’. She doesn’t want to get sober. You’re being fucking lied to. What she wants is to sit in a box somewhere shoveling anything into her face that’ll give her a buzz and make her forget that she’s a mother.”

Carter bit his lip. “Your mother loves you. She’s doing this to make things better-”

“Oh my God, there you go again! Don’t you get it by now? She’s never coming back. She dumped me here to you so she doesn’t have to figure out what to do with me after I finish high school. I’m your problem now.” Nate paused, waiting for his uncle to add anything at all. But everyone stayed silent. Nate clenched his jaw. “Do you even know which rehab she’s in? I bet you don’t, ‘cause there isn’t one.”

The group remained silent, even quieter after that one. Even the low hum of the fridge, which seemed to never let up, had faded out. The four of them sat around their food, all unmoving, and stared in a daydream down at their plates.

“Nate,” Carter spoke up again, though his voice was weak. “I want to help you, but I-”

“You don’t understand.” Nate scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Try growing up with a mother like that completely alone without anyone's help and then you can voice your opinion.”

Silence again.

Nate’s heart started to hurt. A kind of emotional pain he hadn’t felt since early high school. “You don’t know the kind of shit I had to go through. The lies I’ve been fed. The number of times I’ve been betrayed.” He got to his feet, slamming the chair under the table. “You talk about helping me now, but where were you when she tried to kill herself? You are the only family she has.”

He left his meal behind. Carter listened as his stomping moved up through the house until the door slammed shut. He leaned over his plate, rubbing his hands against his face and sighing. As right as Nate was, there was no time to be feeling regretful. He knew that if he dwelled on the past, he’d never be able to move forward. That was how his sister fell.

Carla touched his arm. “It’s okay. He’s had a rough upbringing.”

“I know, but if he doesn’t figure things out soon this will only continue to ruin his life.”

After dinner, of what little they could enjoy it, Carter took a seat in the living room with his laptop. He knew nothing he could say would do any good for Nate. He didn’t know a thing about alcoholism, apart from how it consumed his sister's life. Although, Nate was also right about him not being involved with his sister. He’d actually hoped that the problem would solve itself. Or that his sister was only in mourning and would get back to her old self soon enough.

He had no idea the five years of hell that would follow.

He stopped his mouse, hovering over one website in particular. He hummed, clicking on the link. Alateen, the website went on to explain its basic function and what it was there for. “Hey, Carla!”

“Yes?” His wife peeked her head around the corner, wiping her wet hands on the kitchen towel.

He motioned her to join him on the couch. “What do you think of this?”

“What is it?” She read the introductory paragraph. “Sounds like AA.”

“I think that’s the basic concept. It’s for teenagers his age dealing with alcoholics. I think this is what he needs. He could go there, talk about what he’s been through, and they’ll give their stories. I think it could be good for him. And there’s one near here, just outside Egg Harbor.”

She nodded, wrapping her arm around his torso and resting her head against his chest. “I think you should take him.” She gave him a squeeze. “He’ll thank you one of these days, honey. He just needs time to heal.”

He nodded, planting a kiss on top of her head. “I hope so.”