Reconstructing Amelia (unedited)

Chapter 87

December 21st, 2019

*Eli*

It was a little after midnight and Cato still wasn't back yet. Mia had put Javi to bed hours ago but had been checking in on him every ten minutes. Despite her new brave face, we could all tell she was beyond nervous. I think she was even more worried because we all knew now and it was putting us all at risk.

I headed up the stairs and quietly opened the door to my bedroom

Mia was sitting on the floor, leaning against Javi's bed, her eyes struggling to stay open.

"Mia," I whispered gently, kneeling down in front of her. She jolted up, eyes wide before seeing it was only me and visibly calming. "You should get to bed," I told her.

She shook her head. "I can't. I don't want to leave Javi alone,"

"I sleep in here too, y'know. He won't be by himself," I reminded her with a soft smile.

She looked skeptical. "He's not after you,"

I frowned. "You saw what he wrote. He'll be coming for all of us,"

"You're just leverage," she answered bluntly. "He's just using you against me,"

"You don't have to fight this alone," I said. "Asking for help and accepting it are two different things,"

"I do accept it," she replied indignantly.

I gave her a gentle yet stern look, taking her hand in mine. "Trying to keep us out of everything isn't accepting it. You're part of our family now, we're all in this together,"

"I just don't want to see you get hurt because of me . . . again," Her voice was quiet and full of guilt.

I sighed softly, grabbing a blanket from off my bed and sitting down next to her, draping it over the two of us. "I remember what you did that night,"

"I was protecting you," she whispered.

"You took the hit for me," I corrected, shaking my head. "Twice. You're always putting yourself in danger to save other people. You did it for all of us and you've done it for Javi his entire life," I squeezed her hand tightly. "But you're not disposable, Mia, we need you. You don't have to go through things along anymore - especially all the things from your past. We're here for you, so let us,"

She studied me, searching my eyes for any sort of validity before she eventually nodded. "Okay," she mumbled. She laid her head against my shoulder, taking a slow breath. "I'm sorry I was rude this morning," she whispered. "I just wasn't in the right mind today,"

I almost laughed at the fact that she was apologising over something so small but I knew it was still a touchy subject for her. I mean, yeah, I'd felt a little hurt when she wouldn't hug me, but we'd all known from the start that today would be a tough day for all of us - especially her.

"It's fine, don't worry about it," I told her. "I know you were going through a lot,"

Silence fell between us, the two of us just sitting together and listening to Javi's soft breathing. I glanced down after a while only to find her finally asleep, her eyes closed and her body relaxed.

Her head dipped against my shoulder and I pulled the blanket up tighter around her, mumbling a quiet 'goodnight'.

***

I awoke from a sharp jab in my stomach, in which I sat up immediately, my neck stiff from sleeping upright. My bedroom was dark and the hallway lights were off but Mia was still asleep beside me, though she was tossing around and murmuring in her sleep.