Capturing Them

Chapter Seventy Six

Chapter Seventy Six
Sang

And like that, we're getting ready to head back to Summerville. After I woke up and had a shower, I dressed in jean shorts and one of the guys' T-shirts with a pair of sneakers. Mr Blackbourne, North and Marc made breakfast for everyone while the rest of us packed up our stuff and loaded the cars. Mainly, I help Gabriel with packing up the mountain of stuff he brought with him for the photoshoot.

We sit down to eat breakfast together. Looking around at everyone, I smile when I find everyone looking well rested. I'm so glad we did this. I know it was for only one night, but we have to return to Summerville and figure out the next steps the academy assignment at Ashley Waters, the drugs and how a criminal like Spider Man is involved.

My gaze pauses on Brandon. He's been avoiding me since I got up this morning. He's purposely made sure we haven't been alone also. I can't figure out what I've done, if I've done anything at all. I don't know if I did the right thing last night, but if I had any inkling he would have hurt me when I woke up to him living through his nightmares, I would have got up, waking him be damned, and went to get Corey, Axel...someone that knew how to help him properly.

Caribbean blue eyes meet mine and I suck air into my lungs when I see that they look a little bit lighter this morning. Not the colour, just the darkness that always clouds them not looking as dark and dull.

He looks away quickly. Feeling the weight of a new pair of eyes on me, I shift my gaze, searching for the owner. Dark almond eyes question me silently. I don't know what he's asking me, so I shake my head, going back to my food.

Once we're done, Sean, Corey, Raven and Victor get clean up duty while the rest of us walk the house to make sure that everything is back in its place. We stripped the beds, as requested, and have put the dirty sheets in the laundry baskets that are in the utility room. Victor said that the cleaner will come by to collect and wash them later, but us stripping them would just make it easier on her, which made sense.

I'm just standing in the room that Gabriel dubbed as his dressing room when I feel a presence at my back. I'm not surprised he searched me out. "He stayed with you all night?"

"I think so," I say softly.

"When he didn't come back down after taking you to bed, I came looking for him. I was surprised to find him asleep," Axel says, moving around me and focusing those dark eyes on mine when I look up at him. "You both were."

"He did have a nightmare," I told him. His eyes narrow. "But I managed to pull him from it. I...woke him up, he was okay once I told him that he hadn't hurt me, and he fell back to sleep but now he's avoiding me."

"I haven't seen him that well rested in..." Axel trails off, looking down at me as he thinks. With a shake of his head he takes my hand and pulls me to him. I fall into him, wrapping my arms around his back, nuzzling his chest before turning my head and just resting my cheek on it. "He'll be fine, I'll talk to him though."

I nod my head but say nothing. I had planned to talk to Brandon, ask if he was okay, but I'll do it later, or tomorrow. Let him have today to get whatever is going on in his head in order. Maybe it's not so much he had a nightmare with me right there. Maybe it's something else. What, I'm not sure. But I'm going to find out.

xXx

When I come back downstairs and out the front doors of the cabin, I find North and Brandon straddling their bikes, dressed in jeans, a leather jacket and boots, helmets in their hands. "Are we ready?" I ask, looking over at the cars. Raven is in the Rage Rover, Mr Blackbourne and Victor in their BMW's and Luke is in the jeep, the others spread out.