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Chapter 5

Daniel's POV:

I was wrong. I didn't get three hours of sleep, I got one. One! For some reason, my stupid-ass body thought 'Hey, you know what would be great? Not sleeping!' I don't usually sleep much anyway, but one hour is still to little.

Since breakfast was at 7:30, I read up until that point. Jacob was the only other person in the room by the time I arrived, and he seemed highly concerned based on the look he was giving me. I sat in the same spot I had taken previously and avoided making eye contact.

"Did you sleep last night," he asked, worry laced in his voice. I turned to face him before shaking my head. I wasn't about to lie to him.

"You need to sleep! How much rest did you get?" I raised up one finger, not feeling much like talking. "One hour! What were you doing all night." I shrugged in response before turning back to face the doorway.

"What is all the shouting about?" asked a tired looking Damien as he walked into the room.

"Daniel only got one hour of sleep last night!" I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at Jacob's tone. Yeah, I knew that one hour wasn't good, and although I was tired, I could survive. I Gad had less sleep in the past.

Damien's face had some weird mixture of worry, frustration, and shock as he turned to stare at me. I looked back with a blank expression, not having the energy to fake it today. He rolled his eyes with irritation before sitting down. The boys slowly began to file in, oblivious to the argument that took place.

Could you even refer to it as an argument? It was more like Jacob yelling at me for my poor health while Damien agreed and I stared. Pretty one-sided in my opinion.

I didn't eat much, not really having the energy for it. Everyone seemed concerned, but I couldn't bother to reassure them with false statements of me being fine, they already knew I wasn't, that's why I was here after all. I didn't wait to be excused before I stood up, heading to the bathroom and then the library. I knew it was going to be one of the days where I didn't really talk, so reading was the best thing for me to do at this point.

I wasn't in the library for more than twenty minutes before Damien walked in, concern oozing out of features. He sat in the chair opposite of mine, watching me silently as I continued to gaze at my book, no longer able to read.

"Daniel, come on, I need you to look at me." His voice was soft, soft enough that I almost couldn't hear it. I looked up, struggling to meet his eyes. "Thank you. You didn't eat much today. I need to make sure you're ok?" I shrugged in response, which caused Damien to sigh deeply. "You didn't sleep much last night either Daniel. I need to know what's wrong. Please, talk to me." Oh gods, it almost sounded like he was begging. I did want to talk to him, at least some part of me did, but on days like this, there was no way that I would get a word out of my mouth without having a complete breakdown.

I looked back at my book, hearing Damien sigh for a second time before I heard him stand. I figured and hoped that he was leaving, but instead he came and sat in front of me, looking up at me from his kneeling position.

Oh shit, this felt WAY too sex-related to see.

I moved further back in my chair, hoping that he would take the hint, but he didn't. His hand slithered up to wrap around my own, causing my breathing to spike, along with my heartbeat. I couldn't handle somebody touching me, not right now, but I also couldn't get myself to voice my struggles, so I just stared at our intertwined hands. Luckily, he seemed to understand my gesture, and removed his hand from my own, giving me a confused and concerned look as he did so. I sighed in relief before attempting to go back to my book.

"Look Daniel, I need you to tell me what's going on. I can't help you if I don't understand the problem." Finally, something I could answer. I had had so many people say shit like this, so I got used to answering.

"There really isn't a problem. I'm just tired, as Jacob mentioned, I didn't get that much sleep last night." I had used this excuse so many times in the past, telling friends that I was too tired to talk, eat, hang out, or anything else that I didn't want to do, and it worked every time, even if it wasn't at all true.

"I don't believe you Daniel. There's no way that everything you are doing is caused by being tired." Shit. Fuck. Shit! He's not buying it? What am I supposed to do now? Panic rose in my chest as I stared at Damien, trying desperately to keep my face as void of emotion as possible. "However," he continued, thank the gods there was more, "I can't force anything out of you. If it's actually caused by a lack of sleep, then a nap should help. You should go to your room, have a rest. I'll bring you some food when you wake up, you don't even have to go to lunch." I could practically feel the smirk in his voice. He had so much pride, exposing my lie. I nodded and stood up, walking to my room. I doubted that I would actually manage to fall asleep, but any excuse to skip lunch.

Damien followed me to my room, reminding me to come and find him when I was awake again. I just nodded before entering my room, drifting off into a dreamless sleep surprisingly fast.

Maybe I was more tired than I thought.

***

Okay, I couldn't sleep, so I wrote a chapter. I know it's short, but the next chapter will be in Damien's POV, and I really wanted to do that one now.

Q: What is one of your favorite books?

(I like Six of Crows a lot, but I also love Truly Devious and the Inheritance Games)