Hopelessly Devoted

[53] - Reunited (Part 2)

Before I could reply, Ethan stepped closer and pulled Cameron into a hug, "Cas, I missed you so much," he exhaled a breath he had been holding. I watched as Grayson latched onto the hug aswell, love filling my heart.

"I'll leave you guys to talk," I whispered, and decided I should walk somewhere and leave them to catch up and stuff, but Ethan grabbed my wrist and pulled me back, "No," he shook his head, "I want Casey to get to know you." He pulled me into him, and I couldn't help but smile to myself.

"Please, stay," she smiled warmly, "this wouldn't of happened without you, you deserve to be here," she came closer and hugged me lightly. When we pulled away, she suggested we sit down and talk, fill each other in on our lives.

"How have you guys been?" Casey said, lightly wiping a tear trying to escape from her eye with a tissue she'd prepared.

They'd explained a few things, and Casey would comment on something every now and then. It was very obvious they were related, because her and Grayson had a great sibling bond, while she and Ethan had very, very similar humour.

"How did you two meet?" Casey asked, after a while of conversation, pointing between Ethan and I. Ethan smiled shyly to himself, and pulled me closer to him but putting his arm around my waist.

"It's actually a pretty weird story," he laughed to himself as he looked down at me. I remembered the day at the supermarket, and the, well, very strange encounter. We tried explaining it as best as we could, making both her and Grayson chuckle.

"But, I knew from then I wanted her," he smiled, fiddling with my fingers as I laid slanted against him. I smiled to myself as I heard the words.

"As did I," I chuckled, slightly lifting my head up to kiss him.

"That's adorable," she smiled, "thank you for looking after my brothers while I couldn't," she frowned, looking down in guilt.

"You can't blame yourself for it," I shook my head, sitting up straight, "it's too late to change the past, but it's not too late to change the future."

She looked up at me with a confused, yet sad, look on her face.

"Come back with us." Grayson said, inching closer.

She frowned again and looked down, shaking her head, "I've tried,"

"But we're here with you now," I said, offering a small smile, "we can help you."

Suddenly, she pulled me into a big hug, whispering thank you to me. I couldn't help but hug her back tightly, showing a sign of support.

The rest of the afternoon we spent catching up with each other, and us getting to know each other. It then decided to snow heavily, and we decided we should go back to Casey's place.

We understood the risk of being there, when he could be home any minute. I never truly understood the full story, and what the big fuss of everything was about, so she decided to explain.

"You already know the basics," she frowned as she slouched back in the couch a little, "his family had been able to bribe the college that I'm currently at, to save a special spot for me. I've always wanted to attend school here, ever since I was young." The boys nodded in agreement. "Well, when I said I was sad to leave my brothers behind," she sighed, "he told me he'd leave me on the streets."

"How could he possibly be serious?" I asked, confused.

"He's got multiple warrants out for his arrest, he has friends everywhere, he's sneaky, manipulative and mean. He hates the twins, my own brothers. Why does he even want me? It's not love. It's revenge. It's revenge just on the boys." By the end, she was sobbing.