In the middle of it all.

CHAPTER 13

Song: "It's getting hot in here." - by Nelly.

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Mikayla was worried. She didn't know Cameron very well, but she knew something was wrong. He'd been asleep for five hours. It couldn't mean something good.

"Should we worry?" she asked Daxton quietly. He sat somewhere in front of her. She assumed alongside his brother. Mikayla sat in her own seat furthest in the corner. With Cameron returning, Mikayla felt out of place. The harmony she'd previously established with Daxton felt disturbed now.

"I've called his doctor. He says its normal."

"Is it, really?"

Daxton sighed. "He says Cameron is just overwhelmed emotionally. They said we can expect him to be depressed." Mikayla heard shuffling. "Cameron depressed is..." he trailed off. "I don't want to relive that."

"It's happened before?"

He hummed. "When he was twelve. Things got really bad at home. It pushed him over the edge. He started doing things to himself." Mikayla heard his words cut off. She couldn't be sure, but he sounded choked up. She didn't need him to elaborate. She could figure it out. It made her sick.

"I had no idea." she whispered.

"No one does. They see him for what he is now, and they think he's perfect. They forget he's human. We've all got a past, some of us escape it without even a bruise. Others..." he paused. "We make it through with barely a breath. I've worked so hard to make things better for us. I've been lucky and we've managed to keep our past hidden."

"Why are you telling me?" she asked softly. She couldn't understand why he felt compelled to share a deep, family secret with a stranger. Their whole plan was ludicrous and yet, they'd all accept it with naïve smiles.

"You're different."

She snorted. "Yes, because I'm blind."

"No," he said sternly. "Because you've got empathy. You're understanding without judgement. The world needs more people like you." She heard him move and then, his voice sounded softer. "We need someone like you."

Mikayla's throat felt stiff. She swallowed desperately but the lump wouldn't leave. "I don't want to disappoint you." She'd said it so softly, she wasn't sure he'd heard her.

He had. She heard louder shuffling and then, something touched her chin. She jumped in her seat. "Why on earth would you think that?" Daxton asked quietly. She relaxed once she knew it was him who stood in front of her. She wasn't sure how to answer him without coming across as pathetic.

"It's what I do."

He scoffed and pulled her to her feet. "Who says that?" She shrugged. "Well they're idiots. You could never disappoint me, alright." She felt him grab her chin and lift it up. Before her, she could see only a heavy shadow. When she was little, she used to fear the shadows of people. She wasn't able to see them all the time and most often, they were heavy blurs more than anything else. Regardless, they frightened her. People frightened her. Her family, both adoptive and Annabelle, were the only people who didn't scare her.

Looking at Daxton, she knew things had changed.

"You don't scare me," she said suddenly. She wasn't sure why she'd said it out loud.

"Huh?"

She shook her head. "It's nothing." He hummed and dropped her arms to move away, back to his brother. While he continued to stare and fret, her mind continued to spin. She wasn't sure when things had changed and when she'd started feeling so safe. Somewhere between their greenhouse visits, his thoughtfulness, and their kisses, he'd found a way to become something special to her.