I shake my head at the apology and the crying. I'm not going to cry when we're still in a room full of people and where Derek can hear me. Not that I'm embarrassed to cry around him, but I know he'd do that whole caring about me thing, and that would make me cry even more and then it'd get ugly. I'm a totally ugly crier.

"Shit, I'm sorry. I didn't know." There's a lot about Thomas I don't really know, but I guess it doesn't help matters much that he doesn't know much either. At least I've got memories and I know my mom loves me. "My dad's gone too. I mean, he's still alive, but...he left me and my mom. And he took our dog."

He took our dog, and he didn't fight for me. Some days I don't know which hurts more.