My Protector

More Than I Let On

POV: Catie

"It'll be just like our games of hide and go seek. Just go hide in the best spot in the world that is in this room, and I'll come find you in a few minutes. Everything is going to be okay Catie Girl." My brother soothed me as we heard footsteps downstairs and glass breaking.

"But Andy... what if you get hurt?" I cried as I latched onto my older brother's shirt.

"I'll be okay Catie Girl, just go hide and I'll come find you in a minute. I love you Catie Girl, not only are you my little sister.... you are my gift from God." He kissed my forehead once before getting up off of the floor.

"I love you too." I cried as he left. I went into my closet and dumped the clothes hamper on me after crawling into the corner. I held the necklace that he got me for my birthday for dear life.

*gunshots*

"ANDY!"

"Catie?" Kate's tired voice was filled with worry.

"Sorry... it was just a bad dream." I shook it off before laying back down due to me shooting up.

"It's okay, as long as you're okay, I'm okay." Her voice was tired as she drifted in and out of sleep.

I pulled her to me, her head resting on my chest as her left leg was draped over mine, kissing her forehead once before pulling the blankets back over us.

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"What was last night all about?" Kate questioned as I fed myself a spoonful of cereal.

"Nothing," the only word I could muster for years about the topic.

"Catie..." Kate pressed the topic gently.

"Yes?"

"What happened last night?" She crossed her arms as she stood up from the breakfast table.

"Bad dream." I shrugged my shoulders as I took another spoonful of cereal.

"What was you bad dream about?" Her voice softened.

"Bad stuff."

"You're not gonna tell me anything, are you?" She let out a huff as she ran her fingers through her hair.

I took a deep breath. "Kate, I will tell you these things, but it takes time for me." I broke eye contact and looked at my reflection on the spoon.

"What do you mean 'things?'" Her eyebrows furrowed out of curiosity.

"Things have happened in my life that take time for me to talk about."

She nodded her head, her eyebrows still knitted together in worry.

"I'm more broken than I let on. When you first saw me, what did you think? What was your first impression of me?" I looked up at her for a brief second.

"You looked broken, but you hid it with your hard shell. Your protectiveness uncovered your soft side a little." Kate called me out.

"Damn you." I chuckled as I took another bite of my cereal.

"I understand that you can't tell me things yet, but just know I'm ready to listen when you need me to." She said with a sad smile before taking my empty, now, bowl.

"It's not that I don't trust you, it's just that it hurts and takes a lot out of me to tell people and I'm not ready for that yet."

"Catie, I understand. It's okay." Kate assured me as she put the bowl in the sink before walking back over to me and kissing the top of my head. I watched as she sat down in the seat beside me, looking out the window as she sunk into the wooden chair.

My eyes shifted to the squirrel outside the window. Our eyes locked onto each other and we started our daily staring contest.

"Are you seriously having a staring contest with a squirrel?" Kate asked me with a slight giggle.

"This happens every single morning. He comes up here to my window as I eat my breakfast and stares at me as he eats his sunflower seed that he steals from the bird feeder." I answered, not once breaking eye contact with the annoying creature.

"You're such a dork." Kate giggled beside me as she stood up once again, kissing my forehead before leaving the kitchen. Probably to go get my dad to take me back upstairs. My pain meds are not letting me have to option to walk.

"Are you almost done with your staring contest?" My dad asked me in a serious tone, knowing how normal this is for me and the squirrel.

"I'm waiting for him to look away first so I can win." I replied before drinking the rest of my coffee. The squirrel suddenly snapped his head around due to the bird that snuck up on him. "I win!"

"You're officially the worlds biggest dork." Kate lightly laughed as I turned to my dad so he could carry me back upstairs.

I playfully glared at her as we past by her.

"You need to go to sleep." Kate told me again for the fiftieth time in the past ten minutes.

"But I'm not tired." I whined.

"I don't give a damn. You need to sleep in order for the medicine to start to work." Her hands now placed on her hips as she raised her eyebrows slightly in a bossy manner.

"Okay..." I gave in because I knew that I was fighting a losing battle.

"Thank you." She let out a sigh.

I scooted over a little so she could get in bed beside me.

She lifted the covers so she could get underneath the warm fabric. She then curled up into my chest, her right hand laid on my bare stomach which sent chills throughout my body as her legs interlaced with mine. Her head rested on my chest and her left hand tucked in between us to keep it warm.

Kate shifted even closer to me, practically laying on me.

I placed a gentle kiss on her forehead before I laid my head back on the pillow behind me.

My right hand played with her hair as I placed my left hand over her right hand that was on my stomach, rubbing little circles on the top of her hand before I took a deep breath and feel asleep to the rhythm of her soft breathing.