Without a word of greeting, Aunt Gina whisked right by Milo into their apartment, carrying a reusable bag of groceries. Kace followed behind, glaring at Milo as he always did. Milo shut the door while Gina had already made herself at home.

“Milo, come here and put these in the freezer before they thaw too much.”

Milo sighed and trudged into the kitchen. Gina had set the bag on the counter and was taking her coat off. She draped it on the back of a chair before sitting down at the table. Gina looked a lot like her sister Shannon, Mom. But she lacked all of Shannon’s warmth and kindness.

Gina brushed some crumbs off the table, looking at the state of the kitchen in disdain, her lip curled. She kept her brown hair cut short, straightened meticulously and hair-sprayed so that not a single strand would dare stray. Her clothes were all perfectly pressed: a pristine white blouse and plum purple dress pants. She wore gold accessories, a bracelet and earrings—all things that showed how well off she’d been since she’d married Uncle Jason.

Kace stood in his usual spot off to the side by the wall, near the calendar. He wore well-fitted khakis and a navy blue cashmere sweater, and his two-hundred-dollar haircut was perfectly coiffed, his pale blond hair shining even in the terrible fluorescent lighting of the kitchen. His icy blue eyes were fixed on Milo. It was hard to believe they used to be so close. Back when they were both eight years old, Aunt Gina had married Jason and introduced the new stepson she was so proud of—they had become instant friends… And years later, that friendship had ended just as quickly.

“It’s freezing in here,” Aunt Gina said, tsking as she rubbed her arms exaggeratedly. “You shouldn’t keep the temperature set so low. Think of the girls.”

Milo clenched his hand around the grocery bag at the mention of “girls” plural.

“I’ll turn it up in a minute,” Milo muttered. The furnace wouldn’t catch up no matter how high he set the thermometer, but it wasn’t worth mentioning to his aunt.

He pulled out the bag of frozen chicken breasts and placed it in the freezer. There were also a couple of tubes of ground beef. Gina came every couple of weeks or so, bringing some groceries, primarily meat, for them. Milo did appreciate the gesture; protein wasn’t cheap—if only it didn’t come with Aunt Gina’s bigotry and Kace’s staring daggers of judgment.

Shannon had cut ties with Gina not long after Milo came out as gay. Gina had proclaimed that Shannon had failed as a parent when she allowed Milo to “indulge in immoral and degenerate impulses.” —These were Aunt Gina’s exact words said over dinner at a family get-together. Shannon had replied that they wouldn’t tolerate that kind of hate in their lives. They had left Gina and Jason’s house that night and didn’t look back. Milo had felt so lucky to have his parents on his side; he could have had parents like Kace’s.

Not long after his parents’ car accident, Aunt Gina had gotten in touch with Milo, claiming she only wanted to help. Milo had hesitated at first, as she’d never apologized for the things she’d said about him, but he didn’t want his own pride to get in the way of the needs of his family, and he accepted the occasional groceries.

“What did you do to your hand?” Kace said, his eyes zeroing in on Milo’s bandaged finger as he closed the freezer door.

Milo looked at his cousin, surprised. Kace hardly ever spoke to Milo, even though he accompanied Aunt Gina to their apartment more often than not. More than Aunt Gina’s cruel words back in high school, it was Kace that had hurt Milo the most.

“Why couldn’t you have just kept it a secret?” Kace had said after Milo had tried talking with him after that terrible family dinner. He would never forget the fury and disdain in Kace’s cold eyes.

Milo pulled his hand to his chest. “It’s just a little cut from cleaning up a broken bottle at work.”

“At that seedy bartending job?” Gina said.

“Yeah,” Milo said quietly, folding up the reusable shopping bag. He didn’t feel like having another discussion about his “questionable choices.”

“Really. I suppose it’s the type of place I’d expect—”

“Leave him alone, Gina,” Raine said, standing at the kitchen threshold, arms crossed. “Milo works hard, and you don’t get to sit there and judge him about it.”

“Olivia—”

“It’s Raine,” both Milo and Raine said at the same time. Raine’s sudden presence gave Milo a bit of fortitude. He would take a lot of Gina’s bullying himself, but he couldn’t allow her to treat his siblings that way.

Raine turned to Milo. “Sorry to leave you alone with them, but I have to get out of here. See you later, Milo.”

Milo nodded, his expression apologetic. Raine shouldn’t feel the need to flee their own home. He understood now that urge to protect, just like his mom had done for him. He shouldn’t have let Aunt Gina back into their lives.

Even though the transition was still relatively new, Gina had refused to respect Raine’s pronouns and the name they had picked. It was Milo’s job now to shield Raine. And welling up inside him, Milo felt the deep need to show that he was on Raine’s side, no matter what.

The door slammed as Raine left the apartment. Gina’s mouth hung open in indignance. Kace continued to scowl at Milo—he always kept his unnerving focus on Milo. Why did there have to be so much hate?

“This is what I’ve been worried about,” Gina said, waving her hand in the direction where Raine had been. She ruffled around in her purse, then pulled out a business card. She set it on the table and slid it toward Milo.

“Dr. Carleson is a friend of mine,” Gina continued, tapping a finger on the card. “He’s a counselor for situations like yours, Milo. As the girls’ guardian, you need to think about what’s best for them, especially with how Olivia’s been acting lately. And Alice is at a tender age, impressionable… If you’re willing to work with Dr. Carleson and show your uncle and me that you’re serious about changing your ways and raising the girls right, we’ll help support you beyond the groceries we bring. We could set you up in a nicer apartment and provide living expenses.”

“Get out,” Milo said.

“What?” Gina’s eyes went wide in disbelief.

Milo opened the freezer and pulled out all the meat, the chicken and ground beef they’d brought. He shoved it back in the bag.

“You’re no longer welcome here,” Milo said, taking the bag over to where Kace stood and pushing it into his arms.

Kace grabbed Milo’s wrist before he could pull away. His grip was firm—too firm, to the point of bruising. Kace had gotten so much bigger and stronger since their high school days.

“Don’t be stupid. You’re barely keeping it together. How much do you work?” Kace said, nodding toward the calendar. “It’s all hours of the night, and you can barely afford this?” He looked around Milo’s home with disgust. “We can take care of you, Milo.”

“Get the fuck out of my home,” Milo said, yanking his wrist out of Kace’s hold.

Kace looked furious, and Gina shook her head pityingly. She stood and put her coat back on, brushing it off as if it had gotten dirty while being there. “If you change your mind, you can call me. We would like to help you.”

“My family isn’t going to be a part of your self-righteous agenda out to boost your ego. We don’t need to change who we are to fit your idea of morality. And you’re not going to bribe us with offers of support. Leave.”

Gina let out a long sigh, and they were all silent for a moment. Milo’s hands shook, his blood pounding in his ears.

Only when the door finally clicked close behind his aunt and cousin did Milo feel like he could breathe again. He was angry, but mostly at himself for taking so long to do that. He should have stood up to them a long time ago.

“Milo?”

Milo whirled around to see Alice standing in the hallway, her angel face looking sad and worried. How much of that did she overhear?

“I’m so sorry, Alice,” Milo said, unsure of what else to say and wishing Mom and Dad were there with answers, because he just didn’t know. But that anger continued to bubble inside him. He would protect them. He would step up. And he wouldn’t let anyone make his siblings feel inferior.

Alice came bounding into Milo’s chest, wrapping her arms around him and gifting him with the warmest hug.

“They’re wrong—for thinking you need to change,” Alice said, squeezing tight. “Please don’t change. I love you just like this.”

Milo rested his cheek on Alice’s head. “You too, kiddo. I love you just the way you are, too.”