Train Wreck

twenty

Remington POV

"DAD!! WHERE ARE MY KHAKI CARGO SHORTS I HAD ON YESTERDAY!!" I screamed as I scrambled through the house, frantically cleaning and tidying before people arrived.

This was a great idea when Jesse texted me earlier and I knew it would be awesome, but the moment Doc Eddie's car pulled up and I saw her get out along with Daisy and Benji I began to panic.

Dad rolled into my room while I stood in just boxers and a dark green polo shirt, hair still damp from a shower. He chuckled and handed me a basket of clean clothes, "They just got done in the dryer, son."

I smiled and hopped into the shorts before drying my hair further. The doorbell rang and I tossed the towel onto my bed then ran past my dad to answer. For awhile it was the usual greetings then an obligatory tour of the small house. There was not much to see but Benji laughed at the old photos of me on the walls and Daisy cooed over pictures from my childhood.

We stepped into my bedroom and they both instantly began laughing. I was confused, hyper aware of everything around me, and asked, "Guys... what's going on?"

Daisy stepped forward and grabbed the wet towel off my bed, "Remington, as a friend, I'm gonna give you some advice. Don't do this."

Benji laughed harder as she spoke and the grin on her face told me this must be something that had come up between him and Alice. I chuckled and grabbed the towel from her, taking it to the bathroom and hanging it properly on the towel rack. "Thanks, Dais. Noted."

"If Lissy saw that..." Benji said while still laughing, "I don't even know..."

"Hopefully after the walk she has with Jess she feels better." Daisy said, a concerned tone in her voice giving me pause.

"What do you mean?"

They looked at each other a moment and seemed to be silently communicating. I stifled laughter when I realized this must be how Benji feels when I'm near Alice.

"Liss had a hard time this morning and was struggling with grief. She is way tough on herself and feels like a failure basically always.  Jesse took her on a long walk but told me he wanted to do this cookout and texted you when she was changing and all that. He came up with this scheme and I knew it would be perfect," Benji sat on the edge of my bed and stretched his leg, wincing. "So I texted with them on and off and I know she's feeling a ton better. They should be here pretty soon, too."

I paused, then decided to take this opportunity to learn more.  "So what do you do when that happens with Liss?"

Daisy smiled at my question and looked at Benji. He shrugged, "Honestly? Nothing."

I let out a hollow laugh, "Nothing? Dude, that's not cool."

He groaned, rolling his eyes, "No, that's not ... I ... okay, so what I mean is you do nothing as in you don't force anything with her. Like, ever. Alice is not someone who can be pressured. She'll splinter."

Realization dawned on me and I sank to the bed next to him. "Oh, shit."

"Yeah." Benji nodded, "So when she has darker times, the absolute best thing to do is help her see she's struggling when she can't realize it and help her disconnect. That way she has less pressure, even if the pressure is just picking what to watch on TV. So like on the anniversary of our parents death it's a shitty day, right?" He looked between us and my heart broke at his words, knowing full well how hard those dates truly are. "We have a tradition on that day. We literally do nothing. At all. Like the day before we prepare for it so the future us can be all cool but we don't make any decisions. All the food is made so all we have to do is heat it up. We have movies or shows to binge chosen. It is always a day she takes off work or we skip school. The goal is to make it so the entire day can just be in a holding pattern."