In the middle of it all.

CHAPTER 22

Song: "Take what you want." - Post Malone ft. Ozzy Osbourne & Travis Scott.

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They assembled clumsily into a circle on the living room floor. Annabelle beside Mikayla and across from Nick. Nick beside Daxton and between Vanessa and Cameron. Inside their small circle was an empty wine bottle. It shouldn't have surprised Mikayla that Cameron had the bottle hidden in his room. He'd said it was the last bottle he'd drunk since choosing recovery instead. No one was sure his answer was truthful but, no one was gearing up for a fight if they questioned him.

"Mikayla, it's your idea. How do you want to play this?" asked Cameron. He sounded giddy and she smiled. He liked to pretend he was better than their juvenile antics, but he was the biggest kid of them all.

"I'm not sure. I've only ever played this with my siblings. We were young then." She felt Annabelle squeeze her arm.

"We need rules," said Daxton. Mikayla grinned. He was the stickler in their group after all.

"Of course, you'd say that," drawled Cameron. "Life is more fun with no rules."

"No," said Daxton quickly. "It's more chaotic."

"Fine," interrupted Nick. "What are your rules then?"

"Truth only."

Everyone groaned. "Boring," yelled Cameron. Murmurs of agreement burst through.

"It's not exciting if we're just asking each other questions," Mikayla said to him delicately.

"I'm not doing dares," he said adamantly.

"You're a bore."

"Cameron!" she reprimanded. He remained silent. "We can have rules for the dares." She hoped Daxton were up for compromise. She felt she knew him well enough by now to know that Daxton just wanted solitude. They'd grown attached. She loved it but, she had come to miss company. A night of reckless fun was what they all needed. She needed him to understand.

He was silent for a minute. She wasn't sure what he thought. She wished she could stare into his eyes. Mikayla longed to have the ability to decipher emotions from silent cues. She liked to believe Daxton had plenty of them.

"Fine. Rule one, no one can dare Cameron into doing anything with alcohol. He is in recovery." Only Cameron complained about that one. "Rule two, no dares to do anything illegal. We cannot afford for the media to make things worse for us."

Nick laughed. "You act as though you and Cam are the only ones with reputations to lose."

"Yes, because yours is so precious to you," sneered Annabelle.

"What did I miss?" asked Vanessa.

"That's not what I meant, and you know it Belle," snapped Nick. "I wish you'd just hear me out."

"Are we playing?" asked Annabelle.

"What happened?" asked Vanessa again. "Are you two fighting?"

"Yes."

"No."

Their simultaneous answers left the room in silence.

"Any more rules Daxton?" asked Cameron. It worked in breaking the tension.

"No," he whispered. "You can start."

"Goody!" he cheered. Mikayla heard the bottle wobble against the tiled floor. It spun vigorously before stopping. Cameron whistled before saying, "Vanessa Brady, it's just the two us." Mikayla was sure she heard Vanessa cringe. "Truth or dare?"