Zoe woke up feeling like absolute shit. She felt sick, tired, and her head pounded like a freaking drum. Thankfully, the warmth and beating of someone's heart in her ear made it a little better. Wait… what!? She looked up to find Connor's sleeping face.

WHAT THE HELL!?

How did she get home!? Why was Connor in her bed!? AND WHY THE FUCK WERE THEY SNUGGLING!?

I should kick him off. I should wake him up and yell at him. She told herself; but she didn't. Why wasn't she mad about this? She was so busy trying to figure out what she was feeling emotionally that she almost forgot about what she was feeling physically. The hungover teen felt bile rising in her throat. She immediately flung herself out of bed and sprinted to the bathroom. She thought she was going to hurl all over the place but, thankfully, the toilet seat was already up. She dove to it and just managed to catch all her puke. She was only heaving on her own for a moment before she felt someone move her hair out of her face.

"Thanks mom." She croaked.

"I'm flattered but, unfortunately, I'm not nearly as pretty as her." Connor's voice joked.

Zoe lifted her head. The caring person she had expected to be her mother was, instead, Connor. He gave her a sympathetic smile and Zoe felt a pang of guilt knowing that, if she wasn't disoriented and nauseous, she would have kicked him away and/or told him to fuck off. Fortunately for both of them, instead she just leaned over the toilet bowl and groaned. Connor rubbed her back and started to tie her hair into a ponytail. He got up and started searching through the medicine cabinet for a hangover cure. Zoe was both embarrassed and very confused. New, even stranger, questions swirled around her already stuffed and hazy brain. Why was Connor being so nice to her? After the fight they had he should be treating her worse. Connor kneeled down and offered Zoe the medicine. She snatched it from him with a glare.

"You're suddenly a descent sibling?" She snapped rhetorically.

She felt her chest tighten up as Connor flinched but didn't say anything. Zoe looked at the floor and took the medicine. That sat in silence for a few moments.

"... How did I get back from Isabella's house?" She asked.

"I went looking for you and drove you home." Connor replied.

"Lair." She sneered.

Connor just shrugged. It hurt that she didn't believe him but he didn't blame her.

"Why were you in my bed?"

Connor's face got a little pink. He cleared his throat.

"Turns out, you turn into a clingy four year old when you get drunk…"

Now it was Zoe's turn to blush.

"I didn't say anything did I?" She sputtered.

Connor ducked his head to hide his face and bit his lip. Having your little sister cry over the thought of your death hurt like hell, especially when you've thought of taking your own life more often than trying to fix things.

"What did I say?" Zoe demanded.

Connor took in a shaky breath.

"Nothing much." He mumbled, "It was mostly just… you yelling… that you didn't want me to die… and crying… and making me carry you to bed."

He chuckled a little at the last part.

Zoe went pale and looked away from her older brother, pulling her knee's to her chest.

"Go away."

"Zoe, What did I-"

"DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE ASK ME WHAT YOU DID! YOU KNOW DAMN WELL WHAT YOU DID!"

"RECENTLY! What did I do recently!?"

"I DON'T CARE IF YOU'VE BEEN ACTING LIKE A DECENT PERSON! THAT DOESN'T EXCUSE THE SHIT YOU PUT ME THROUGH!"

"I KNOW! BUT I'M TRYING DAMN IT!"

"WHY!? BECAUSE YOU SAW ME CRY!?

"NO!"

"THEN WH-"

"BECAUSE I KNOW YOU CARE NOW!"

Zoe fell silent, eyes wide. Connor was standing, facing the wall, his hands tugging at his hair.

"I THOUGHT NO ONE GAVE A SHIT SO I GAVE UP!" He turned to the side and leaned against the wall, "I can't do that now… not after how much you've cried over it… over me. And that was just a dream. I don't want to have to think about what it would do to you and mom if I actually died…"

The taller teen started shaking and choked back a sob. He slid down the wall until he was crouching on the floor in a fetal position and buried his face in his arms.

"Why can't you actually hate me? Why can't you want me dead? If I was gone I wouldn't have to keep hurting you."

"Shut up." Zoe hiccuped.

Connor raised his head and looked at her through his red eyes. Zoe was shaking, tears flowing down her face somewhat silently. Her breath was raged as she desperately tried to stop crying.

"S-shut up!"

She crawled over to Connor and grabbed a hold of his shirt before smashing her face into his chest.

"You can't kill yourself for me. Fuck it! You can't kill yourself at all! You aren't allowed to die!" She wailed.

Connor was sitting with his back against the wall as Zoe sobbed into his chest, practically sitting on his lap.

"I won't.." he tried, lifting her face so he could look the panicked teen in the eye, "I won't I promise. Giving up isn't an option anymore, remember?"

He tried to smile for her but he was too busy fighting back fresh tears. Thankfully, his words were enough. Zoe curled into Connor's lap, letting him hug her with his bony arms. She continued to clutch his shirt in her fists and they rocked back and forth like they had when they were kids.

They stayed rocking for a few minutes, trying too calm each other down. Eventually they stopped crying and just rested in their tangle of limbs, Connor leaning against the wall and giving Zoe the perfect angle to use his chest as a pillow.

"Zoe."

"Yeah?"

"I want to fix this."

"Me too."

"Alright… first order of business: figure out how to communicate without it ending in tears."

Zoe started to laugh loudly, making her whole body shake. Connor followed suit and soon, the Murphy siblings were a couple of broken teens laughing in each other's arms like nothing was wrong.

Cynthia couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her babies were laughing behind the bathroom door. It had been so long since she had heard Zoe laugh but Connor… she almost forgot what it sounded like. She tried not to cry as she turned the doorknob. What she saw when she walked in made her heart soar. The siblings looked up from their place on the bathroom floor but didn't stop giggling.

"Oh, hi mom." Zoe greeted.

"Don't mind us, we're just having a moment." Connor grinned, "Care to join us?"

They both reached out and arm to their mother. Cynthia's eyes welled up with tears as she smiled with joy.

"Of course." She accepted, walking over to them.

Connor and Zoe broke apart from each other in order to let their mom sit between them. She wrapped an arm around each of them and hugged them close. And, for the first time in years, both of them hugged back.