“I’m fine.” I swipe at my eyes against the tears building.

“You’re not fine. Now tell me what’s wrong. Maybe I can help.” He touches my shoulder and gives it a squeeze.

“It’s not a big deal.” I sniff and shove my hands in my pockets to make sure I don’t reach for him. I’m dying to wrap my arms around him and have him pull me into his chest.

He tilts his head and waits.

After a few moments, I feel uncomfortable and spill my guts. “It’s hard for me to sit there and listen to my parents fighting… it brings me back to how I felt as a teenager, which as you may have guessed was not great.” I chuckle a hollow laugh. “Finn was always able to shrug off their fighting. Mind you, they didn’t go at it with the same intensity as they did after he left for college. My high school years were spent between feeling like a referee or an afterthought. Do you know they didn’t want me?”

I huff. “Nope. Even told me I was an accident once when I was younger because my mom was mad that I was sick and she couldn’t go out to some party they were supposed to attend.” I scoff and shake my head. “Do you know that I can’t count the number of times my parents altogether forgot to pick me up at a friend’s house, or after an extracurricular? It was mortifying to have to accept a ride from another parent while I made excuses for why my parents had forgotten me.”

Andrew’s hand, ungloved and cold from the weather, cups my cheek. “Sounds like a lot for a child to deal with.”

I shrug. “Other people had it worse.”

He steps closer, and the scent of his expensive cologne reaches me. “That doesn’t negate the fact that it was bad for you.”

“Maybe,” I mumble.

“I noticed the way they afford Finn more respect than they do you. You’re right to be upset. Especially after what your mum said about you planning your brother’s wedding.” The hand that was cupping my face is gone when he uses it to push back his hair and kind of just holds it there as if he’s frustrated.

“I’m used to it.” A frown tugs my lips.

“Well, you shouldn’t have to be.”

“I hate that their fighting still gets to me like that. And it just sucks feeling like you’re not good enough, you know?”

“Yeah, I know exactly what you mean.” Without warning, he pulls me into his body and wraps his arms around me, running his hand down my back.