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Ash’s head seemed to split in half, pain filling the entire right side of his skull, and he screwed his eyes shut again and reached out to pick up his phone.

“We’re not going out, Bri. I’m sorry,” he mumbled.

“Out!” Bri had stuffed the front half of his left foot into his right shoe and switched to the other.

His phone stopped buzzing for only a few seconds before starting back up. He almost tossed it across the room again but managed to stop himself. Clenching his jaw, he looked down at the screen. Shaina’s name was there, and he knew—he knew she was probably panicking. Cursing and pacing and yelling at him to answer.

He did the best thing he could do. The asshole thing. He hit the red button to decline her call, opened up his text messages and found her name, then scrolled past at least a dozen messages she’d sent that he hadn’t read yet and typed out the words im fine u can stop calling. Which he knew told her just how not fine he actually was.

Then he started crying. Again.

“Out!” Bri grabbed his hand and tugged. “Out!”

“Bri, I said no,” he repeated, his tone stern. She tugged again, however, and it was just enough in his current state to pull him off balance. The room started spinning, and he dropped his phone as he reached out with both hands, barely stopping himself from tumbling onto the floor.

He groaned and closed his eyes, but everything still tilted sideways. Vaguely, he heard Bri sniffling, and he shook his head weakly. “I’m so sorry, baby girl. Can you help me?”

Two sniffles, the second stronger than the first. “Da.”

“Can you shut the door?”

The room was baby safe, and Bri could shut the door but not open it if it was closed. That was the best way to make sure Bri wasn’t going to hurt herself if he ended up lying down, like he knew he needed to.

Bri didn’t respond, and Ash forced himself to open his eyes. That was a bad idea, however, as the room began to spin again, worse this time, pulling him more and more to his left. He slumped over.

“Please, baby girl.”

“Out?” she asked quietly.

“No, I’m sorry.”

Her lower lip quivered, and a single big tear rolled down her cheek. Without another word, Bri turned, plodded over to the door, and closed it. Then she came back over to him and plopped down onto the floor, wiping her own cheeks. He couldn’t stand that he’d made her so sad, but there wasn’t a darn thing he could do about it right now.

He let himself slide down onto the floor with her, and she crawled into his arms. Wrapping her up in a hug, he lowered his head to rest on top of hers as she sniffled again.

“I’m sorry, baby girl.”

“Out?”

Ash didn’t answer this time. His phone buzzed on the bed—one of those shorter buzzes. At least Shaina had stopped calling. God, he was going to owe her the biggest apology ever, too. As soon as he could think straight, he’d text her back again.

His stomach rolled, and he sucked in a breath. He’d ignored so many texts yesterday—before his test because he’d been trying desperately to study, but then after his test, too. Because he’d failed. Badly. He’d only finished maybe half the problems in the allotted time, and the ones he had finished, he had very, very little confidence in.

It was easily the worst he’d ever done on an exam. No contest.

Even for his final exams after Ashlynn had passed away last year, he hadn’t done as poorly.

And right now, he didn’t even fucking care. Why the hell did any of this matter anyway? Why the hell should he care?

“Un-ca,” Bri mumbled, as though reminding him. Her future depended on him. That was why it all mattered and why he should care. That was why he should be worried about his grade.

But he just felt a deep numbness. Next to the debilitating pain of loss. And his migraine.

And he couldn’t make himself move.

So they sat there together, Bri in his lap, sniffling in her disappointment as Ash did the best he could to keep himself upright.

When his phone buzzed again several minutes later, Bri pushed back. “Un-ca?”