He meant everything to her. Three years later and she'd still do anything to keep him safe, sacrifice everything to protect him- even if that meant keeping him at an arm's length.
She was the one person who truly knew him. The one person he'd choos...
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By the time Sawyer finally came back, it was late. He'd stayed and comforted Lily for the next hour, leaving Kai all by himself. He hadn't fallen asleep and he hadn't had any peace though. If his dad had known that, he wouldn't have stayed so long with Lily. He would've come back and likely done the same thing he'd been doing ever since he'd been rescued— thinking he was providing him comfort.
Kai turned onto his other side, eyes staring out at the dark room. Everything was obscured by the darkness, only a sliver of light penetrating through the crack in the door. He'd been staring at the slate walls ever since his dad thought he'd fallen asleep, mind racing. And he'd probably flipped onto his other side fifteen times.
His bed was sinking down, his body dipping into the mattress. It was too soft. And his pillow had been tossed somewhere near the end of his bed, no type of blanket covering his body. He was hot and everything about the bed made him feel uncomfortable. Maybe it was the fact that he hadn't slept on a real one in four years. Or maybe it just came down to the harsh reality of him not wanting to sleep.
Because if he did something as futile as that, the memories would never stop; the nightmares would never stop.
The first night he'd gotten back, he'd been forced to stay in the hospital wing. There was no question to whether he could stay with his dad yet, considering how weak he was. But he'd been all alone. And it would make sense for him to be comfortable like that after years of isolation, but all that'd happened was him waking up in a cold sweat.
Nurses had come running in after hearing his screams, so he'd fought so hard not to have the nightmares. His dad would only worry more about him and he couldn't have that. He couldn't have his dad looking at him like some broken thing when it probably wasn't that far off from the truth.
Kai swallowed hard, turning onto his back. He wasn't tired at all. Not one part of him was ready to fall asleep. He glanced over to his left, eyes trailing over his father's sleeping figure from across the room. Soft snores filled the space, meaning that he was asleep.
As quietly as he could, Kai swung his legs off his bed. His feet touched down onto the cool floor, bringing him to a standing position. He used the wall to guide himself over to the door where his shoes sat. It was near silent as he slipped his shoes on, careful not to make a single noise. If his dad woke up, he'd have too many questions that he probably wasn't ready to get the answers to.
In all honesty, Kai needed something to drink. He probably needed, like, four somethings to drink, but he'd have to see how Coin really ran her district first. Without another thought, Kai opened the door, stepping out into the hall. The corridor was dimly lit as he walked, small lights illuminating the bottom of the hallway.
He passed Lily's room, then Finnick and Peia's, quietly making his way to the kitchen. He knew he was probably breaking more rules than he could count, but Coin could kiss his ass. He was sick of feeling like a caged animal, so something as trivial as curfew meant absolutely nothing to him.
