C22 The best brother for the job

Date = 7 April (about 4 in the morning)

Same night. More frenetic. More painful.

Place = San Francisco (24-hour convenience store)

Same parking lot.

POV - Aria

“Fuck, Aria, are you alright?” Mel’s voice is barely a whisper, ragged and wet with tears. “I’m so … SO sorry.”

All I can manage is a groan — not the sexy kind. It feels as if my insides have been pushed through a meat grinder