Vester dies during an April cold snap after an ice storm cuts power, stopping his oxygen. Dori panics and blames herself for handling his heavy pain medications and for being asleep when the heat and machines failed; Demon feels he should have been there. Dori’s grief is immediate and consuming, and Demon watches her unravel.

At the funeral, Vester’s relative Aunt Fred takes control of everything and sidelines Dori, who sobs through the service and later visits the grave daily. Afterward, Aunt Fred and a lawyer review the finances: the store will be sold to cover debts, while the house is paid off from an old settlement. Dori can stay in the house but must cover utilities, and she can draw Vester’s Social Security only until she turns eighteen in five weeks, making the support nearly useless.

With Vester gone, the steady supply of prescribed opioids and sedatives ends, leaving Demon and Dori scrambling. Demon realizes Dori has long been quietly managing and monetizing extra pills from Vester’s prescriptions. When Dori insists on making a “run,” Demon drives her to a crowded pain clinic parking lot near Pennington Gap, where people line up to get prescriptions while others buy and sell pills outside. Dori explains they are there to sell, not to see the doctor, and Demon sells oxycodone in the rain while she instructs him on prices.

Dori describes how the clinic’s doctor writes the same “holy trinity” for everyone—Oxy, Soma, Xanax—and reveals the shock: the clinic is run by Dr. Watts, the same physician tied to Demon’s ongoing painkiller use. Meanwhile, Demon struggles to keep up appearances at Coach’s house under U-Haul’s scrutiny, but Dori pressures him to stay with her, framing any absence as proof he does not love her.

In June, Demon’s grandmother Miss Betsy arrives and bluntly ends the monthly support payments to Coach because Demon has flunked school; Coach takes the blow silently. Demon decides the cutoff makes moving easier and tells Dori he can live with her in Vester’s house. Angus helps Demon pack and challenges him for not defending himself and for abandoning school, then directly confronts his drug use; Demon admits he is deeper than prescribed painkillers, though not using needles. Demon insists adulthood means relying on himself and moving in with Dori, while Angus admits she likes Dori because, for the first time in years, Demon seems genuinely happy.