Courage Comes From Lies

Chapter 19: Devin

"Devin! Wake up! Please! DEVIN!!"

I bolted up panting with a heavy sweat looking around wildly before sighing relieved and falling back onto the bed. Jeez. Another nightmare huh? I looked up at the ceiling of the deck below the ship. A girl.. She called my name but she sounded... distressed.. and angry. More angry than I've ever heard anyone. She reached out to me screaming my name.
I sighed and glanced at Tara sleeping next to me. Almost immediately, a smile spread on my face as I turned to her watching her sleep. Looking at her always somehow relaxed me so much. Hearing her say my name, seeing her smile, watching her just be silly to make me smile. She reminded me so much of Amanda... But my affection for her is just.. different. I gently pressed a finger against her cheek as she slept there peacefully. She's full of so much pride and optimism. It radiates wherever she goes and my mood always brightens up when I look at her. I don't understand it.. But I know she's who I want in my life. For as long as I can have her. Thinking about her so much, I accidentally muttered her name. "Tara.."
Just then she shifted in her place which made me jump back and fall off the bed hitting my head on the floor. "OW!!!" She sat up yawning and looked down at me rubbing her eye. "Are you alright Dev?", she asked me sleepily. I groaned sitting up, holding my head.
"Yeah.. I think I'm okay."
"What happened? Did you slip?" I looked up at her and noticed her scruffy bed head and shimmering tired eyes. Even just waking up she makes my heart flutter. But I couldn't bring myself to admit that I'd been watching her sleep.
"Uh.. I just got startled from a bug on the wall?" I looked at her awkwardly, hoping she'd believe me.
"Well are you okay? You fell pretty hard. Did you hit your head?"
"Y-Yeah but I should be okay." I stood and dusted myself off, feeling my face get cooler.
"Hey Dev? I got a question."
"Hm? What's up?" I looked at her.
"Your brother. Is he like you in regards to your mother? Like.. does he hate her too?"
"Hm. That's a strange question to ask." I sat back next to her. "Well firstly he's not blood related to me. We sort of adopted each other as siblings when I was thirteen. But I have spoken to him about everything she's done and I believe he stands neutral. He despises what she's done but doesn't really care as long as he isn't involved and I'm not hurt."
"I see. That's a pretty straightforward way to look at it." She was about to ask another question when Patrick came tumbling down the stairs, Jasmine following behind.
"What the hell Patrick? You nearly broke ANOTHER hole in the deck!"
He chuckled awkwardly as he stood and cleaned himself off. "Sorry."
Tara sat up and stretched shaking out her hair with a smile to which I looked down feeling my cheeks get hot again. "So what's up Patrick?" She asked.
"We're closing in on Icamus." He looked at us with a bright smile.
All at once her eyes lit up. "Really? That's perfect!"
"Yeah we should be there by tomorrow afternoon. If Patrick doesn't wreck the god damn ship again." Jasmine crossed her arms looking at him with annoyance.
"Right. Well. I know when to escape a woman's glare."
Jasmine rolled her eyes as he walked back upstairs then looked at Tara. "Thank goodness. So Tara. There is a very good trainer in Icamus I know that I can convince to help train you. "
She turned her attention towards Jasmine. "Really?"
"Yeah. I've known him for a while and he owes me a favor anyway."
Tara's eyes glistened as a huge smile appeared on her face. "Sounds awesome! I'd love to!" I saw Jasmine glance at me out of the corner of my eye as I looked down blushing a bit again.
"Great. I'll contact him and tell you his answer." She walked upstairs leaving me and Tara alone. She then turned to me with this huge smile and big eyes looking at me excitedly, all traces of sleep having been erased and replaced. "Isn't this great? I get to be trained more and get stronger!" She suddenly hugged me tightly thankfully not noticing how red I was. I could feel her excitement and it just made me happy. I hugged back and we stayed there like that for a while.