I take two long strides and capture her face in my hands, kissing the hell out of her in my enthusiasm. “Goddamn, Cambria, you have made every single thing in my life better just by being in it.”
She snorts derisively, but doesn’t pull away. “I might have a few counter points to argue on that front.”
Shaking my head adamantly, I kiss her again, reverently this time. “I will gladly take the bad with the good. A part of me always desperately wanted to believe things like this could happen, but I knew it was just a daydream. Yet you, Cambria Alina Lark, are far better than anything I could conjure on my own. I have nothing to offer that could even come close to the gift you’ve given me just by showing up in my life, but hell, I will certainly spend the rest of my days trying to show you how much you mean to me.”
The look she gives me is vulnerable, and I already know she isn’t going to say anything, will be internally scrambling to figure out what an appropriate response is. So I give her the only thing I’m able to, even though it doesn’t come close to all she’s given me.
“Come on, daylight’s wasting.”
She visibly sags in relief, taking my hand as we start the long walk since we can’t all fit on Atlas’ bike. Between Lucien and Cambria, I owe nearly my entire existence to other people. Lucien saved me from death’s door, took care of me, and helped me start my own business. Cambria, fuck; I don’t even know where to begin, but I’m going to marry that girl if it’s the last thing I do.
I’d be no one without them, yet I want to be everything for them. Even Atlas, who has wormed his way into our inner circle until I can hardly remember the time before he showed up. While I respect and adore Luce, Atlas was my first actual friend. He’s always felt like an outsider until recent weeks and I’m glad to see him just as happy as the rest of us at last.
We push open the door to the massive arcade, working our way to the back and waiting for the next round to start. Watching the clock for the current match countdown, we suit up with a handful of others, adjusting the straps on our vests while a teenage kid goes over the rules. When a buzzer goes off, about a dozen people file out and it’s our turn to get divided into teams.
Atlas and I are on one with a handful of strangers and Cambria on the opposing side. She strikes up a conversation with a girl around her age instantly, laughing and scheming. It hits me that with everything going on, and how much I adore being around her, we’ve pretty much restricted her entire world to the three of us. Before we came along, she had that girl from the club, Stella, and she’s brought up before how smothering it’s been going from one extreme to another. So when Atlas starts to try and switch places with a guy, I stop him.
“We’re close enough to her that she’s okay; let her have a little freedom. We’ve pretty much been breathing down her neck since we met her.”
He gives me a strange look, but doesn’t argue. He knows I would gladly take any and all chances to be around her, so if I’m not, there’s a legitimate reason whether or not he sees it yet.
We head through the door, the space a dimly lit maze. Each team splits off in separate directions, weaving out of sight and ducking behind various obstacles. There’s a loud buzzer to signal the start of the game and we’re off, running in a crouch.
I jump behind a wall when I see a head pop out in the path ahead of me, waiting as he inches his way closer before rolling out and locking my beam on his chest target. There’s a ten second shut down of his system before he can fire and I use that time to sprint away, crossing paths with another of my team. Hiding to avoid getting hit would be useless since the goal is to get the highest number of points.
The minutes fly by as we run around like trigger happy mice, eager to ignore the problems the world wants to bury us in for just a little longer. My gear shuts down as I take a hit, so I take the minute to catch my breath in the stifling room. When some guy shoves past me, I clench my teeth, but take a few slow breaths through my nose to settle down despite the sweaty smell of the place.
Another few minutes pass and a teammate’s hand lands on my shoulder, jerking me back before I can step foot into the adjoining open hallway. “Hold up, there’s someone out there,” he states, zoned into the game and ignoring my discomfort. I brush him off, taking a step back and shaking my head.
He was just helping me, helping the team.
I follow his lead out there, using him as a human shield when it turns out to actually be three people waiting for us. Beams of light and fake shooting noises fill the air and the next thing I know, another couple of people from our team end up behind me. I get buffeted around and knocked back into someone who shoves me forward. Before I even know what’s happening, I’ve thrown a few punches, only snapping out of it when Atlas tackles me out of nowhere, pinning me on the ground.
“Calm the fuck down, D. It’s just a game,” he hisses, ignoring my thrashing.
“Get the hell off of me,” I spit back, the vulnerable position only succeeding at making me buck harder.
He’s only trying to help, but he’s making it ten times worse. I end up head butting him, quickly sitting up and sliding so my back is to the flimsy wall before rising to my feet, trying to conceal the tremors in my hands. My heart is pounding, making me feel like a cornered animal as people crowd around us. One guy is clutching a bloody nose, no more than twenty years old if I had to guess, and I’m just grateful as all hell I didn’t hit some underage teen in my reflexive panic.
I already know I fucked up, seeing some guy pulling his phone out to no doubt call the cops, and groan. At this rate, Luce is going to end up locking us in the basement before he ever leaves the house again.
“We need to get out of here,” Atlas mutters, mirroring my thoughts as he scans the crowd for Cambria, rubbing at his forehead from my hit.
She seamlessly works her way through the throng of bodies, stopping just out of reach. Her eyes race over the scene, making her own assumptions, and takes a slow step closer. There isn’t a single ounce of pity in her eyes, for which I’m immensely grateful. She keeps her movements languid and easy to anticipate, approaching me casually like there isn’t some huge scene playing out around us.
Because if Cambria is the master of anything, it’s pretending that everything’s okay.
“Hey, my strap is caught. Help me out?” she asks, offering me her side and cocking her hip in my direction.
I focus on that instead of the crowd, helping her out of the equipment before tearing mine off as well. Atlas ushers us towards the exit and we toss the vests and guns in the anteroom, striding outside swiftly.
The fresh air hits me, but even that isn’t a relief. I’m just so goddamn angry, pissed off at myself more than anything. All these years later and the hell my family put me through still haunts me. I haven’t been a scared little kid in nearly a decade and they still have so much power over me, can ruin my life without uttering a single word. And I just let it happen, time and time again, despite how much I don’t want to. I thought time was supposed to heal all wounds, but no matter how long I wait, the marks refuse to completely fade.
Atlas and Cambria walk a couple of steps ahead of me, making sure they’re both in my line of vision and don’t accidentally catch me off guard. I love their consideration, appreciate how much effort they’re going through to try and help, but I despise that they even need to. I’m the weakest fucking link in this family and I’m not sure I can stand living this way forever.
“Cambria?”
She twists to face me, walking backwards. “Yeah?”
