His words ring around in my mind endlessly. Would I have believed him? No, absolutely not. But he should have told me, anyway. I would rather be ignorant than completely unaware.
“He was a mess, you know? He spent every minute trying to find you.” I roll my eyes, resting my hands under my head.
“He was the reason I was there in the first place.”
“True, but without him, we would still be at The Academy killing people who likely didn’t deserve it. You’re allowed to be angry, Darlia, but don’t let that make you forget he saved us. When he found you in that room with Lauren, his every instinct was on saving you. He threatened to kill a doctor’s entire family if you didn’t make it, it was really quite dramatic.”
“You don’t understand, what they did…I don’t know if I can forgive him.” My voice breaks as I remember everything. The torture they put me through for weeks on end until I finally reached my breaking point.
“Then tell me.” Bella grabs my hand, squeezing it gently. I don’t think I’ll ever be ready to talk about what happened there.
“I can’t.”
“Okay, but for what it’s worth, Cayden spent every second looking for you.”
The smell of something cooking fills the room, and we both sit up. It’s been a week since I woke up after Cayden carried me out of the re-education site, and every day since he has made sure to bring breakfast or make a big lunch if I sleep in, for both Bella and me, whenever he can.
Tonight Cayden has another gala, so he’s going out and won’t let me go with him. Another reason why I’m mad at him. He seems to be collecting those at the moment.
We make our way to the kitchen where Luke, Weston, and Caleb all sit on the couches, talking about something I don’t understand when Cayden places two plates on the table for me and Bella.
“Eat. You need your strength, love.”
I don’t argue. I may be mad, but whatever he just made smells amazing, and I still feel the hunger from the re-education site. Cayden said it was just phantom hunger and would go away with time, but he’s not really at the top of my list of most trustworthy friends right now.
Did he save my life? Sure. But he was also the reason it needed saving to begin with.
“Thanks.”
I sit down on the cool metal chair, picking up the knife and fork and cutting into the strips of meat on the plate. I look up at Bella, trying to understand what it is, but she’s too busy eating her food to notice.
Lifting a piece to my mouth and biting into it, I can’t hold back the moan that builds in my throat. It’s amazing, crispy and salty. Cayden laughs at me from the kitchen. I send him a glare, but it has no real malice.
“It’s bacon, love. And those are eggs, then those are hash browns. I brought them from home for you.”
“Where’s our bacon?” Weston asks with a pout, and Cayden throws a ration pack at him, earning groans from the boys.
“If I put on a brown hair wig, can I get bacon then?” Caleb asks, making me and Bella laugh while Cayden just looks annoyed. “I’m just saying, it seems like only the ones with long, brown hair get the bacon.”
“Fuck off, Caleb,” Cayden groans, placing a glass of juice in front of me. Cayden pauses, looking like he wants to reach out and touch me, but he doesn’t. Instead, he steps back and grabs a ration pack for himself before sitting down on the couches with the other boys.
“You’re killing him, Darlia.” Bella sighs.
“Shut up and eat your breakfast.”
There’s a moment of silence at the table before Bella speaks up again, her voice barely a whisper. “He really does care about you, I saw it.” I know that, it’s obvious. He wouldn’t make us breakfast and leave himself the gross ration packs if he didn’t care. He wouldn’t have saved my life if he didn’t care, or brought me back here to the apartment, but he did anyway.
“There’s something I need you to do, and I need you to not tell anyone about it.”
?
“I can’t take this anymore. I’m so bored, I need something to do,” Weston groans, hanging off one side of the couch. Luke moves and shoves him off, sending Weston falling to the ground.
“Ow, what the fuck man? What was that for?”
“I gave you something to do. Falling face first onto the floor.” Caleb and Marcus hold back laughs while Bella rolls her eyes at them.
“Funny,” Weston grumbles, rolling his eyes and sitting back on the couch while the rest of us are sitting around the living room. I try to hold back the laugh but fail miserably, Bella following beside me as we watch them interact.
