The moment Kelly Peterson heard the devastating news of her brother's passing in Afghanistan, she went straight to her room and locked the door. For an eternity it seemed, she sobbed uncontrollably. The unexpected death of a loved one was equal to someone ripping your heart from your chest and crushing it till there was nothing left. Caleb promised he would return home, Kelly thought distraught. He was supposed to come home and beat her in Mario Kart, their favorite game. He was supposed to come home and help her play pranks on Anna. He was supposed to come home and teach her how to drive stick shift. He was supposed to come home and teach Luke some self defense moves. He was just... supposed to come home.

The burning pain in her chest was slowly becoming numb and her tears were beginning to lessen. All was left was her dry throat swelling up and her eyes feeling sore and puffy. She nuzzled her face against her pillow, like a cat brushing up against its owner for comfort. She needed comfort, but not the kind her family could give her. Her mom would fold her up in her arms and hush in her ear like a baby. Her dad would awkwardly pat her back, grab a beer, and grieve in his room, intoxicating his system with alcohol before passing out. Her older sister wouldn't be much help and neither would her younger brother. Caleb would know what to do; the only problem was he wasn't here to make things right. He was... well, dead.

Funeral arrangements marked her calendar painfully soon. Her parents spent an entire pocket full of savings for proper burial in their hometown. It was only a week following Caleb's sudden passing and her parents wanted to plant a tombstone already. Kelly couldn't fathom the option. It was just way too soon, she was barely past the early stages of grieving.

What a great way to start senior year. Not only was she about to go through her last year of high school but in a few days, her birthday was coming up, just a few weeks before Halloween. Her first birthday without her big bro to smother frosting on her face and laugh at her. This was seriously going to be the shittiest of years, and she knew it. How could she survive her eighteenth birthday without Caleb? She'd rather scrape a cheese grater against her forehead then spend a birthday without her brother. Might as well not have one at all this year.

Typical Monday rolled quickly after the funeral on the weekend, and Kelly wasn't thrilled to be back. Who wouldn't after a death in the family. As she suspected, everyone was cringingly nice and sweet to her, offering their condolences and what not. Since she lived in a small town, word spread around fast like wildfire. Her closest friends, of course, tried to cheer her up. She became friends with her forced smile throughout the agonizing day of school. Cheer practice after school was worse. No matter how much effort she tried to focus, she couldn't get her moves down correctly. When she realized she didn't have the motivation to practice the routine, she decided to excuse herself from practice and go home instead. Kelly's mom picked her up quickly.

"Hon, you okay? How was, uh, practice? I thought it didn't end till six?" Laura asked hesitantly, glancing worriedly at her daughter as she peeled out of the lot and back onto the main road.

"You thought correctly," Kelly buckled her seat belt, avoiding her mom's occasional troubled gazes. "I just, um... I wasn't feeling good, so my coach excused me," she explained quietly, staring out the window. Her chocolate eyes caught nothing but dry desert land.

"Oh, hon. I'm sorry," Laura cooed to her gently, making Kelly cringe from the overly concerned tone. "Well, what can I do to make you feel better? Anything? Bowl of soup, perhaps?"

"No, mom. I'm... fine... I'm fine. I think I, um, ate something bad at lunch today," Kelly said unconvincingly. Laura paused for a moment, a silent turmoil reeling in her head.

"Y'know, hon... if you ever need to, um... talk, you know I'm here for you, right? You're not alone..."

"Mom, can we please... not talk about this."

"I'm sorry, hon. You're right. Too soon."

The conversation dropped and was met with long tense silence. The gentle humming of the car was the only source of noise. A few short minutes passed and Laura pulled up in the driveway. Kelly unfastened her seatbelt and was ready to jump out the passenger when her mom placed a firm hand on her knee, making her halt. She looked at her mom questionably.

"Before you go inside, I should warn you that we have have a, uh, surprise visitor here for us," Laura whispered.

"Surprise visitor," Kelly repeated flatly, her brown eyes locked on her mom's blue ones. "And you failed to tell me this earlier because?"

"Hon, I'm sorry, it slipped my mind," Laura sighed, her voice laced with fatigue. "He's a close friend of Caleb's... They served on the same unit..."

A flicker of pain flashed across Kelly's face. "Mom..."

"Hon, I know..." Laura gripped her hand and massaged it gently in a comforting motion. "I know you hate talking about... Your brother... But we need to move on, we can't be grieving our entire lives... Caleb, he would want us, everyone, to move on... ya know?"

Kelly stared at her mom's face, inner conflict displayed in her mind. She wanted to make her mom happy and put on a smile to fool everyone. She couldn't be sad forever. Caleb wouldn't want that for her.

"Besides... David's really sweet. You'll like him. I think having him around will... Lighten things up a bit. We're in need of a change here, and David is perfect for that solution."

"Don't you think inviting a stranger into the house is a bad idea, mom? Like, a very bad idea? How the hell do you even know if he's telling the truth or not?" Kelly questioned suspiciously. Laura waved a hand, brushing off the question as she exited the car. Kelly followed in pursuit.

"There's pictures of him and Caleb together," Laura responded indifferently.

"And you thought it would be a great idea to invite him in the house and then leave him alone to steal anything he could possibly get his hands on?"

"Kelly, keep your voice down," Laura warned. "The poor man fell asleep on the couch shortly. He said he ran all the way from the bus stop. I didn't want to disturb him."

"And you left Luke home alone with him?" Kelly asked angrily.

"You're being ridiculous, Kelly. Johnny's mom picked up Luke today from school, so he's there studying."

"Mom, why would you leave a fucking stranger in the house by himself," Kelly whispered furiously as they approached the front door.

"Language, please. I already told you, he's been through a lot, so let's not give him a hard time."

"He's been through a lot? Yeah, I'm sure he has. He's probably already stolen half our shit and is probably on his way the next bus ride to Arizona for all we know," Kelly fumed as she stormed in through the front door and halted to a complete stop when she smelled something delicious wafting through the air. Kelly furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and dropped her cheer duffel bag as she made her way to the source of the heavenly aroma. Her eyes kept track of anything that could've been missing and she was heavily relieved to find that everything seemed to be in place. As Kelly approached the kitchen, she was surprised to see no one. The smell was definitely coming from inside the oven. She checked inside and was stunned to find a crisp and golden apple pie baking to perfection.

"I hope you don't mind," a voice said from behind her.

Kelly gasped in shock, accidentally slamming the oven door shut and spinning around in one fluid motion. Standing on the other side of the kitchen was a surprisingly good-looking young man with sun kissed skin, a shock of dark blonde hair, and ice eyes that held her own in a confident gaze. Her cheeks burned in realization that she was wearing short shorts and a tank top. She hoped this guy wasn't a perv. Much to her surprise though, he never raked his eyes down to look at her in an appreciative gaze. Instead he kept his eyes on hers.

"Shit, you scared me," she breathed out, placing a hand on her chest to emphasize her point.

"Sorry, I have that effect on most people," he said, the corners of his mouth curling into a subtle smirk. Kelly couldn't decide if that was creepy or attractive.

"Yeah, well... It certainly did on me..." Kelly said unsure of what to make of the obviously older man.

"Oh, I was wondering what that wonderful smell was," Laura said as she entered the kitchen, unknowingly interrupting the intense stares between her daughter and the stranger. "David, I'm sorry I didn't get to properly introduce you. David, this is my younger daughter, Kelly."

Slipping an easily charming smile on his seemingly perfect face, David held out his hand. "Pleasure to meet you," he greeted politely, grasping her hand in a firm yet gentle manner.

"Yeah, likewise," Kelly responded stiffly, noticing how rough and calloused his hand felt compared to her soft and unblemished one.

"So, uh, David," Laura brought up conversation with a smile as she peeked inside the oven. "I didn't know you baked, that's so sweet of you. It looks delicious."

David shrugged. "Well, it's the least I can do in return for your warmth and kindness, ma'am. I can see why Caleb talked so fondly of his folks," he said with a sad smile.

Kelly grimaced at the mention of her deceased brother and without a word, walked out of the kitchen to head straight for her room. David kept his piercing eyes trained on her the entire time until she disappeared in the hallway.

"Kelly," Laura called out, but was ignored and met with the sound of Kelly's door being slammed shut. An exhausted sigh escaped from Laura as she pushed her dark hair back. "I'm sorry about that, David," Laura apologized softly. "Kelly's still upset over her brother."

"That's completely understandable, Mrs. Peterson," David assured. "I don't blame her. She's going through a lot at such a young age." Laura nodded in agreement, her concerned eyes lingering on the hallway while David pulled the finished pie out of the oven.

"Mmm, how about a slice of pie, Mrs. Peterson?"

—

Hopefully this fantastic movie will get more recognition from Netflix :) Also too, please check out Z0mbiKitty's fanfic called "Monster with a Halo: The Guest" and give it some love! If there's anyone out there reading this, let me know and leave a review :)