His brows pinch together. “Kalen? What’d he do?”
Sighing loudly, I drop onto my bed, running my hands through my hair. I don’t really want to admit to Knox that he was correct about Crew, but at the same time, he has experience with this shit apparently, and could possibly give me some insight. “You were right, okay? You were fucking right.”
“Anderson, my man. I’m gonna need you to stop talking in riddles.”
“Crew’s doing drugs. I found them in his backpack last night, and he left when I confronted him. Then I went over there today, and Kalen showed up with coke.”
“Damn.” He shoves his hands into his pockets, face screwed up.
“Yeah.”
“And I’m assuming by your split knuckles, you punched one or both of them several times?”
My gaze falls to my bloody hands. “Yes. Kalen.”
My bedroom door flies open, Aston walking in. “What’s going on?”
“Noth—” I quickly shove my hands into my sweatshirt, not wanting Aston to see the evidence of what went down.
“Crew’s on drugs. Kalen is supplying said drugs. Anderson found out. Anderson kicked Kalen’s ass. Did I get it all?”
My eyes go wide as I fight the urge to get up and deck him, too. “Jesus fuck. Don’t you know how to keep a fucking secret?”
His lip tilts into a crooked grin. “You didn’t tell me to keep it a secret, bro. Plus, keeping secrets doesn’t count with Aston. Duh.”
“Uh,” Aston says, still standing in the doorway, looking between us with a dumbfounded expression on his face. “What?! Crew’s doing drugs? Since when? What kind?” He fixes his gaze on me. “And you kicked Kalen’s ass? Since fucking when do you fight people? I’ve never even seen you so much as yell at someone, let alone get physical.”
My throat plummets to my stomach because he’s right. All of this is so out of character for me. “I don’t know, okay? I don’t know anything, it seems. I found white pills and cocaine in his backpack last night, and when I confronted him, he flipped out and dipped. I went over there today to try again, and fucking Kalen showed up and I lost it.”
“Shiiit.”
“What the fuck do I do? It’s like he doesn’t care that he’s hurting himself, and he acts like he doesn’t want to get better.”
“He probably doesn’t, man,” Knox states. “Addicts don’t care about anything but their next high. They are selfish, reckless, and unpredictable as fuck. They lie, manipulate, and they’re masters at hiding this part of themselves.”
Pressure builds behind my eyes as my body sags. “How do I help him, then?”
“All you can really do is be there for him. He has towantto get clean for himself. Addicts never get clean for someone else… or at least it never lasts. He has to find his rock bottom and decide that living is worth more than killing himself with the high.”
A wave of nausea washes over me. What if his rock bottom is death? What if I can’t save him in time? I’m so lost in this nightmare, I don’t even notice Aston coming to sit beside me until he puts his hand on my shoulder, making me jump. “How long has this been going on?”
Shrugging my shoulders, I reply honestly, “I’m not sure. He won’t talk to me about it at all. He freezes me out. He had that overdose last year, so I’m assuming it was at least since then, but probably longer than that.”
“Okay, this isn’t the best time, but I have to know.” Aston’s voice is timid, like he’s trying not to spook a cornered animal. “Is there something going on between you two?”
My eyes snap to Knox’s. He raises his hands in the air in a mock surrender. “Don’t look at me. I didn’t say anything.”
Expelling a heavy breath, I rub the back of my neck. “Yes, there is.”
“You knew?!” Aston pins Knox with a look that, had I not been so upset, I’d laugh at. “What happened tokeeping secrets doesn’t count with Aston?”
“Yes, I did. I saw them making out once. Don’t look at me like that, though. As someone who was buried deep in the closet his whole life, it’s not my place to out someone.”
Aston nods and takes a breath, turning his attention to me. “How long?”
“Only since the beginning of summer. We hooked up for the first time when we all went camping.”
“Weren’t you still dating Calina?”