Purple | Cole Stewart -VERSION DISCONTINUED

Chapter Eight: Late Nights

After a few days, I faded back into the pattern I had adopted at Thurmond. And I hated to say it, because obviously there was nothing about being in a camp, but everything was easier at Caledonia. Sure, punishments were still handed out every day, and we had no freedom, but there was no white noise, and we could talk to each other, and I could see Liam.

•••
I turned over in my bunk again, trying to find a comfortable position. It may seem surprising, but prison beds aren’t all that comfortable. I was facing the other bunks now, and I looked over to see Jenny staring at me in a surprisingly non creepy way.

“Can’t sleep?”
I shook my head, turning to face her more.
“Happens to the best of us,” she shrugged.
“Well it's a pain in the ass,” I muttered.
She laughed softly at that, which made me smile. She had a beautiful laugh. “Can’t argue with that,”
We laid in silence for a moment, just looking at each other. “Can I ask you something?”
She nodded slightly, so I continued. “How long have you been here?”
She frowned, and I immediately tried to backtrack. “Sorry- you don’t have to answer that, I didn’t mean to overstep,”
She shook her head again. 
“No, it's fine. I just get the numbers mixed up in my head sometimes. It's been… four years? I think? The days just started to blur together at some point I guess.”
I nodded, not knowing what to say to that.
“What about you?”
“What about me?” I asked.
She shifted around a bit so she was laying on her side facing me, supporting her head on her hand. “Well I know how long you’ve been here obviously, but what about before? Where were you?”
I fidgeted with my fingers as I tried to come up with a story that contained as much of the truth as possible without revealing anything about Thurmond.
I told her that I had been on the run on my own for a long time before I met Liam, and then about our time together. Leaving out Thurmond from the story was simple, but it still hurt to lie to her.
I only realized that she had fallen asleep at some point once I finished telling my story.

•••

After our late night conversation, something changed between us. Instead of Jenny always taking the lead in our room, she asked me for help sometimes. It was nice, having someone rely on you without also having their life in your hands.
As time went by, I began to sit with her at meals more and more often. Liam and I weren’t growing apart, per say, Jenny and I were just growing closer.
And we grew much closer. We talked almost every night,just laying across from each other and learning about each other's old lives and anything else we wanted to talk about.
There were these moments when she would get really into a topic, and I could see her eyes light up in the moonlight shining through our small window. She would start talking louder and louder, and I hated having to tell her to quiet down so we wouldn’t wake up the other girls.
I trusted her with so much, things I never even told Liam. And she did the same, telling me about the older brother she had who she thought was a PSF now. I had climbed into her bed and hugged her as she cried silently.
I had been at Caledonia for well over six months when I finally decided to tell her about Thurmond, being Red, everything. I liked Jenny too much to keep secrets from her.
We were sitting on the floor in the corner of our room, under the security camera so we wouldn’t be seen. It was our routine: sleep for a few hours, then wake up and move our pillows so it looked like we were still sleeping for the security camera.
It was a small corner, so we had to sit with our entire sides touching. Not that I was complaining.
Some days we didn’t speak at all, just sat there and enjoyed each other's company for hours.
“Jen?”
“Yeah?”
“I need to tell you something,” I couldn’t look at her right now. Not if she might think I was a monster in a few minutes.
“Yeah? Go ahead,” she sounded nothing but supportive, which was the only reason I was able to keep speaking.
I was silent for a moment as I built up the courage to tell her everything. I felt her hand slip into mine, and I looked up at her, despite promising myself I wouldn’t.
“Okay. Do you remember my first or second night here, when I told you about where I was before I came here?” she nodded, so I continued. “I wasn’t completely honest with you. I was alone for a long time, and everything about Liam was true, but before all of that, I was in a different camp.”
I don’t even have to look up to know what her face looks like. She was confused, and rightfully so. Nothing about what I was telling her made any sense.
“I was there because I’m uh- I’m not Blue. Or- I’m not just blue.” I was speaking faster now, trying to get through everything I wanted to say before Jenny freaked out on me. “I’m also Red. I don’t know how, but I am, so please don’t hate me for it,”
I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for her to lash out at me, or scream for a PSF, or do anything. But she just sat there, still holding my hand, waiting for me to look up.
So I did.
And there was no hate, or fear, or disgust anywhere in her face. Just what looked like concern in the pale moonlight.
“Did you really think I would be scared of you? Or mad at you?” I nodded slowly, continuing to study her face.
“God, Carter, I could never hate you,” She leaned into my side and laid her head in my neck. 
“You’re my blue,” I said softly.
“What?”
“You’re my blue. Everything about being a Red is chaos and fear, and Blue is calm and controlled. You keep me Blue.”
“Your Blue. I like that,” she sighed, nestling farther into my shoulder. I laid my head on top of hers and fell into a peaceful sleep.
It definitely wouldn’t be enjoyable, and I definitely wouldn’t make it through unscathed, but I might just- god, it seemed crazy to think, but I might just survive this.

word count:1112