There were some people that Evelyn did not mind being silent with. In fact, she thought there was a lot to learn about being silent with a person. There were moments of quiet between her and her friends, a comfortable one where they didn’t feel the need to fill the silence. Even among the CCNC group. There were moments they had been quiet, lost in their own thoughts, but none of it felt threatening. Sure, the looming apocalypse was over them, and there were the general nerves of that, but she started to feel like they were moving on. The fact that the quietness among them didn’t give her the anxiety it once did meant the world to her.

  Her family, however. Ten seconds after the therapist asked about their family history, had to be one of the most torturous silences Evelyn had ever come across. And that included the brief silence after Rafael admitted to Nick what happened three years ago. It didn’t help that right now Nick had a glare on his face and Walt was acting like he wasn’t the cause of it. Evelyn was gnawing on the inside of her cheek, wondering what was going on between those two. They’d been snapping at each other, using passive aggressive remarks every time they interacted. It’d been driving her a little crazy, and now they were silent.

  “I mean…” Lydia said, being the first to break the silence. “Every family has problems, right?”

  “Certainly no family is perfect. We always need to be working on something. But let’s start with Evelyn. You were the one to suggest family therapy, right?”

  “Yes,” Evelyn said. “Um… my dad…” Walt glanced over at her, raising an eyebrow. Evelyn refused to look at him, knowing she had to talk about this. “My dad bullied one of my friends. And I… didn’t like it.” As she said it out loud, her cheeks started to grow warm.

  “Avoiding a bit of context, aren’t we Evie?” Walt asked.

  “Right. Probably the part where you pretended to be Evelyn to lure Tyler to her window to prove he really was the pervert you thought him to be,” Nick muttered.

  Walt shot him a glare. Nick glared right back.

  “Right, so… is there a pattern here to how you solve your problems?” Dr. Davidson asked.

  “No. This was definitely a last resort,” Walt said.

  “I’m going to guess you didn’t actually have to pretend to be Evelyn as your last resort,” Nick said.

  Walt’s eyes hardened, but he didn’t look at Nick. “I’d like to emphasize this boy is college age. Twenty years old. Hanging around my daughter way too much. He’s a half an hour away from us, yet willing to drop everything and check in on her. It makes my skin crawl, and I don’t intend to apologize at all for what I did.”

  Evelyn curled her fingers into fists. “Rafael has hurt me more than Tyler ever has.”

  “Because Tyler knows now to never touch you again. You’re welcome,” Walt said.

  “God, dad. You’re missing the point,” Evelyn said.

  “Alright, so Rafael did something to you three years ago,” Walt started to say in an offhanded manner. She thought she’d healed a lot from what happened between her and Rafael, but hearing her dad start talking made her realize just how much it still hurt. Felt the anger that burned in her gut. “He’s never done anything since,” Walt said.

  “Tyler’s never done anything at all,” Evelyn said, her voice dark.

  “So, I’m sensing that there is a bit of tension,” Dr. Davidson said.

  “Oh, really?” Walt asked. “How long did you study at school to figure that out?”

  “And I understand that it can make us feel a bit defensive, but this is good to get out,” Dr. Davidson continued.

  “You didn’t have to insult him, dad. You didn’t have to insinuate something he did even though he’s never done it,” Evelyn said, talking over the therapist.

  “If I recall, you decided to use some physical violence against me,” Walt said, gesturing toward his face.

  Evelyn gripped the armrest.

  “God, dad,” Nick muttered, rubbing his face.

  “Do you have something to add, Nick?” Dr. Davidson asked.

  “Absolutely nothing, thank you,” Nick said, dropping his hand.

  “Nick, come on,” Evelyn said. “This was supposed to help everyone.”

  “No, this was supposed to be about the issue with you, dad, and Tyler,” Nick said.

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  “Oh, we don’t have time to unpack the mountain of your problems,” Walt said.

  “Thanks, dad. Great to get my daily dose of emotional support from you,” Nick said.

  Walt glared at Nick, and once again, Nick glared right back.

  “And… Lydia. Do you have anything to add?” Dr. Davidson asked.

  Lydia shook her head. “No, not really.”

  “Yeah, you never have anything to add,” Nick said, slouched in his chair.

  “Nick,” Walt said with a warning in his tone.

  “Oh, please, go ahead, dad,” Nick said, gesturing toward Dr. Davidson. “Keep up the condescension. The backhanded compliments. Give Dr. Davidson a feel for what it’s actually like at home. It’ll help him more easily assess our family situation. But I doubt he’ll be able to help, because no one can tunnel into your huge ego to let you know that you’re the problem in this family.”

  “Okay, that was import-,” Dr. Davidson started to say.

  “Oh, I’m the problem?” Walt asked, swiveling right at Nick. “Me? How much more does your face have to be scarred before you realize what your own choices have done.”

  “I don’t know. Maybe if you never took my door, I’d have the privacy to do some inner work on myself.”

  Dr. Davidson raised both eyebrows at that. “You… don’t have a door?”

  “Only for a few days. He got it back,” Lydia said.

  “I’m real sick of you pretending like you deserved that door. Not after what you did. Not after getting a call from the police that you were trying to vandalize something.”

  “I’d like to put it on record that I didn’t do anything of the sort,” Nick said, his eyes growing dangerous. Evelyn felt her breathing turn uneasy.

  “Are you still afraid the police are going to find your artwork?” Walt asked. “Afraid they’re going to fine you. That you’ll have to pay the fine with your own money?”

  Nick shot out of the chair. Evelyn gasped, prepared for Nick to turn around and start screaming, but instead he stormed out of the room. He pulled the door open and slammed it with a force that rattled the doorframe. Walt sighed.

  “Might need to reconsider taking off his door,” Walt said.

  “No, you shouldn’t,” Dr. Davidson said. “Let’s take a break, then we’ll come back and-”

  “No need,” Walt said, patting the armrest. “Evelyn, it was a nice try, but talking about our feelings won’t solve anything. It certainly won’t turn your brother into a saint.”

  Evelyn opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. She watched, horrified, as Walt and Lydia gathered their things and left the room.

  “I… but I…”

  Dr. Davidson sighed, making a note. “I shall leave this file open. Perhaps we can come back to this-”

  “No. We’ll pay for the full session, but we’re not coming back,” Walt said.

  Evelyn stood. “But dad!”

  Walt opened the door for Lydia, then motioned for Evelyn to follow. “Come on, Evie. Let’s get in the car.”

  Evelyn froze in her spot. She didn’t want to leave. This was supposed to help. They were supposed to be doing better. They didn’t last ten minutes.

  “Come on, Evie.”

  She gathered her things, feeling her cheeks warm as she left. The awful silence that was in the therapy session permeated throughout the drive home. Nick had his arms folded in the back, glaring out the window. Evelyn wanted to break the silence, but she was afraid of cutting the wrong wire.

  Walt pulled the car into the driveway and they all got out. Nick headed straight for his room as Evelyn lingered in the hallway.

  “We gave it a chance, Evie,” Walt said, glancing at his phone, almost bored. “We tried. Also, I really think therapy has worked for you, and you’re doing better. Consider Thursday to be your last session.”

  Evelyn felt her stomach shrink, and she stared at her father. “What?”

  “Consider it a compliment. Honestly, you’re doing really well. You don’t need it anymore, and those sessions can get pricey. I’ll send the email off tonight.”

  “Dad, wait,” Evelyn said. Walt did wait, though the look on his face said the conversation was over. She plowed forward. “Please. I… love my therapy sessions.”

  “They’re not supposed to last forever, Evie,” Walt said, already leaving the kitchen.

  He walked upstairs with Lydia following behind him. Evelyn was left alone. Afraid. One last session. One more. Then her dad was asking her to drop them. What choice did she have? It wasn’t like she had any money.

  She walked to her room, dropping her purse on the ground before collapsing on the bed.

  She covered her eyes with her arm, trying to make sense of it all. They should still be there, talking about what was happening. Starting to mend ways. But it was never about that. It never would. Therapy worked for her. It worked fantastically. And now it would be done.

  “Hey.”

  Evelyn dropped her hand, gasping a bit to see Nick at the doorway, leaning against the frame. “Hey.”

  Nick wasn’t looking at her. “I’m… sorry it didn’t work.”

  Evelyn shook her head, tears in her eyes. “Perhaps it was stupid to put so much hope in this.”

  Nick rubbed his arm, his head against the doorframe. “Evie, I…” he trailed off, not looking at her. Evelyn sat up, curious. Nick sighed, closing his eyes. “You want to know my deepest fear? Besides someone dying in the apocalypse?”

  Evelyn wasn’t expecting this. She watched, blinking. Nick opened his eyes, staring right at her. “It’s not that we won’t get the monster’s killed in time. It’s that we will. That life will go on as normal. And… when I leave in April… I’m terrified that dad will take all his anger and frustration and… treat you the same way he’s been treating me.”

  Evelyn stayed silent. A silent that wasn’t prickly. Silence that made her realize Nick might be right. Evelyn glanced at her hands.

  “He’s already doing it. Already controlling aspects of your life. Making you hang out with the people he approves of. Disregards your boundaries.” Nick rested his head against the wall, his brows furrowed. “God, I could handle an apocalypse if you came with me to my apartment when this was all over,” Nick whispered.

  “Nick,” she said.

  “I was afraid this would happen. It’s what he does. He lets you do something, so you feel like you’re in charge before taking something else away to remind you he’s the one who makes the choice. He’s… not going to be bored when I leave. He’s going to focus on you,” Nick said.

  Evelyn felt a chill run down her spine. “But…”

  “Think about getting a job,” Nick said. “Start saving up money. If you need, I can stay.”

  “No,” Evelyn said. “I won’t let you suffer here anymore.”

  Nick nodded, a haunted look in his eyes. “Alright.” He stood up straight, turning away. “Stay safe.”

  He walked away, and Evelyn stared at him, wondering how they got to this point that Nick has to ask her to stay safe in her own home.