The beach was empty when I got there, but it wasn't shocking seeing as it was a little after 3am when I ran out of the house. I walked down to the shore of the beach, enjoying the feeling of the sand sinking in between my bare toes. The air was crisp as it bit at my nose, and I shuddered at the breeze. I sank down on the ground and brought my knees up to my chest. The waves rolled gently onto the shore, barely touching my toes before retreating. I laid my head on my knees and began to weep gently.

“It’s hard on all of us, you know.” A voice said behind me, scaring the shit out of me and making me scream and jump. I turned around, barely being able to make out Mike’s figure standing a few feet away from me.

“For fuck’s sake, Mike, you can’t do shit like that.” I scolded at him. “What are you doing here? How did you find me?” I asked him as he sat down in the sand next to me.

“I was driving back to the house when I passed by you running. I turned around and followed you here to make sure you were okay.” He pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and took one out, lighting it up and taking a long drag. “Are you okay?” He looked over at me after taking another drag.

“I’m fine, Mike.” I smiled at him weakly, trying to prove to him that I was okay.

“If you’re so fine, then why are you sitting on the shore of the beach crying at three in the morning?” Mike pressed.

“Damnit Mike, I said I’m fine!” My voice cracked and a tear slid down my cheek. I was far from fine and I was pretty sure that he knew that, but I really didn’t want to talk about it. If I talked about it that would mean this would all be real, and damn, did I not want any of this to be real.

“Evelyn,” He began, laying a hand on my shoulder gently and looking at me hard. “You can’t keep this all to yourself, you just can’t. This is rough on everybody and we need to be there for each other.” He tried to explain.

“How are you going to say that after you stormed out of the hospital room like that? And Jaime too? Both of you just fucking disappear like that, leaving me and Tony alone to try to handle this ourselves! Then you’re fucking nowhere to be found when Jaime brings back a fucking skank to the house HOURS AFTER WE FUCKING FIND OUT OUR BEST FRIEND IS BASICALLY FUCKING DYING!” I screamed at Mike, not caring how harsh I sounded. I realized that I was standing up, but didn't remember actually getting up. I stood over Mike, fuming with anger. He avoided looking at me, instead choosing to stare off at the ocean crashing behind me.

“We all cope in different ways, Eve. I needed to be alone. You think it’s hard to hear that your best friend is dying? Try finding out that your brother is dying! It’s not easy, Eve!” I regretted what I had said immediately after hearing Mike say this. He was right, as hard as it was on all of us, it had to be a thousand times harder on Mike.

“I’m sorry Mike, I didn’t mean it…” I sat back down next to him.

“It’s alright, Eve. It’s hard, I know.” He finished the cigarette he had and put it out in the sand. “Jaime really did that?” He asked, changing the subject and looking back at me.

“Yeah, he did… He came home completely hammered with some blonde skank that he was talking to at the party the other night. I found them downstairs, and when I asked him about it, he yelled at me. He actually yelled at me, Mike…” Mike knew how much I hated being yelled at ever since my breakup with Kody.

The yelling was a part of what made the breakup so bad. After months of trying, I had finally built up the courage to break up with Kody. When I told him that I wanted to, the yelling started. He yelled at me telling me I was worthless, a piece of shit, that no one would ever love me again. He be-riddled and verbally abused me until I was nothing. Jaime walked in at just the right time and saved me from him, kicking him out and threatening to kick his ass if he ever saw him again. Jaime was the one to pull me out of my depression, so it broke my heart to pieces when he actually yelled at me.

"I'm sorry that he yelled at you Eve, truly. But he was drunk, you've got to know that he didn't mean what he did or said. I don't know that it's right for you to be angry at him. He's just looking for an escape, for comfort." Mike said slowly.

"Then why can't he find comfort with me?" I croaked out, my voice scratchy.

"I can't tell you because I don't know for sure. That would be something that you'd have to talk to him about." I realized I was crying again and wiped away at the tears on my face.

"Come here, girl." He held out his arm and wrapped it around me, pulling me close to him. "We'll get through this. I promise." We sat there for a few minutes in silence as the waves crashed gently.

"Mike..." I whispered. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course, anything." I shifted uncomfortably in his arm before continuing.

"Well, before he passed out, Vic... he said to me.... he said, 'Would you still love me if I was like Michael. What did he mean, Mike?" Mike sighed and dropped his arm from my shoulder.

"I should have known..." He whispered. He sighed again before looking at me with a weak smile. "When I was a senior in high school, I had a problem with pills. I took anything and everything I could get my hands on. It got out of control, and I withdrew myself from everything. One day I just took too many, and I overdosed right in my kitchen, in front of my parents and Vic. I was taken to the hospital, and after a few weeks I recovered. I quit after that, I had learned my lesson, but I didn't think Vic would ever in his life try that... especially after he saw what I went through... I just don't understand why he would do this." He let out a shaky breath and wrapped his arm around me.

"I don't know Mike, I really just don't know." We sat there for a few minutes again.

"Why don't we go ahead and head back? We could both use some sleep." Mike said, breaking the silence.

"Sleep sounds fantastic right now. Let's go." We got up and shook the sand off our clothes before heading back to the car. The drive back was short and silent, but it didn't really bother neither of us. He pulled into the driveway and killed the car. I opened my door, but stopped and looked back at Mike, who was sitting still in the driver's seat. "Thanks for coming after me, Mike. It means a lot." I smiled at him and headed inside.

Jaime was sitting on the couch and hopped up when I walked through the door. "Evelyn, thank god. I called you a hundred times, why the hell didn't you answer?" I walked right past him and tried to head up to my room, ignoring the question he had asked me. "Eve, don't do this, please don't ignore me." He pleaded, following me all the way to my door. I walked through the frame and turned around to shut my door, but hesitated when I saw Jaime standing before me. His eyes were red and his hair was a mess. I looked at him and bit my lip, trying to hold back my tears.

"Jaime... I just need to be alone right now." I saw his eyes drop, and he took a step back.

"Alright Eve, but just know that I'm sorry. I really am." I pursed my lips together and he walked away. I stood at the door completely conflicted. I wanted to be mad at him and run back into my room, slamming my door shut and refuse to come out, but another part of me wanted to chase him and tell him everything.

"Jaime, wait!" I called after him, taking a few steps out of my room. I heard him come running back up the stairs. He reached the top of the stairs and stood in front of me, panting breathlessly. "Jaime.... I'm sorry." I whispered, my voice cracking. "I'm so sorry Jaime." His face broke and I saw the pain flicker through his eyes when the tears started falling down my face.

"No Eve, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for yelling at you, I was wrong to do that. I didn't mean to hurt you, you know that's the last thing I want to do. You're my best friend, Evelyn, and I love you to death." I fell apart right there and lost control of the sobs I was holding back. I fell into his arms and cried over everything that had happened up until this point.

"I'm not strong enough Jaime, I can't handle this on my own. I need you. Oh god, I need you so badly." I choked out between sobs. Jaime picked me up off my feet and carried me through my door and to my bed. He laid down on my bed with me still pressed into his chest. I sobbed harder than I had in all my life, my body shaking and trembling. Jaime stroked my hair softly, kissing me on the forehead over and over, whispering gently into my ear "I'm not going anywhere, Evelyn. I'm never going to leave you."

Notes

I didn't mean to take this long with this update, honestly, I meant to have it up ages ago, and I apologize. It's hard with being in college and all, so I hope you guys are understanding with that. I had meant for this chapter to be longer, but really I felt like that was a good place to end it.
I'm going to try to have another chapter up before Friday, hopefully I'll be able to. Thank you guys so much for reading and for the feedback, it means soooo much! Love you guys!
Title credit: When You Can't Sleep At Night- Of Mice & Men
P.S. I need honest opinions. Would you like slight smut or what not when it gets to that point? Don’t lie and try to hide it because we’re all a little pervy on the inside, there’s no denying that. But, I don’t know if you guys would actually want that in the story or not? Please, don’t be afraid to tell me your honest opinion!