Brendan couldn't believe how awful he felt. He had never been hungover in his life. In fact, other than a pint on his 18th birthday with his mum that she took him for because it was something a father would usually do with their son and she hadn't wanted him to miss out, he hadn't touched a drop of booze. He saw what it did to Maisy when she had days she wanted to be trashed. So, this was really his first time popping his booze cherry, and apparently it made him want to pop his other cherry with Reecy. That sucked so hard. For one, she had a boyfriend, and two, Brendan always wanted to lose his virginity to someone he had deep feelings for and was dating, and all those other things he wanted to come before he tried sex for the first time. He didn't even know why he was feeling rejected by Reecy when he had always wanted all that to be what his first time was like. The whole situation had left him feeling miserably, unwanted, and lonely. Even more than he had been before he told Reecy he wanted to get drunk.

He groaned and closed his eyes. The room was spinning a little less now he was lying down and propped up on some pillows in bed, but he didn't feel less ill or stupid. Caden's response should have been expected. Brendan had expected him to be disappointed or angry, hence why his defences had gone up. But his uncle was right, they had always had a close relationship and Brendan had always felt like he could talk to Caden about everything. "I'm just... lonely. When Mais hit me, it felt like nothing had changed, and that was why I came to New York. For a change. Bryce might die. His Mum and Dad told me that yesterday before what happened with Mais."