pretty when she cries ; fitz

chapter twenty-three

"hello beautiful," cam lets go of the handle of his suitcase as amalie jumps into his arms.

"hi!" she peppers his face and neck in little kisses. he was surprised by her actions, they both were. but it came natural even after so long.

cam had flown in around four o'clock in the late afternoon and wasn't as dead tired as he thought he was going to be. amalie drove a little faster than she usually would so that he could get settled at her house and go to sleep. there would be plenty of time to show him around town later.

unknown to him, amalie had big plans for their time together.

amalie had listened to the boy talk about their friends and everything they've been up to. toby's transformation, mason's interest in rapping, jay sharing his music through his platform. how big ryan's puppy has gotten. matt's disappearance from youtube. swagger's recent voice actor job opportunity.

it was securing to hear her friends doing well.

"they miss you terribly, though." cam yawned, reaching over to put his hand around her thigh while she drove. she smiled and relaxed in her seat. "i had to physically stop mason from coming with me."

"sounds about right," amalie giggled, turning onto the dirt road that her house belonged on.

soon enough, they were inside.

"this is really nice," he looked around. "like, really nice."

"thank you," amalie locked the door as she did every time, triple checking out of habit and paranoia. sheriff maloney visited a few times a week, to check up on the giancarlo girl. sometimes they'd go out for coffee. other times amalie offered to sit with the sheriff during her late night shifts. amalie was grateful for the woman and her organic hospitality.

she showed cam upstairs, making a beeline straight to her room. cam followed hot on her tail.

"you can just leave your stuff wherever," amalie put her hands on her hips. she'd cleaned the laundry on her floor and tidied up the rest of the house before going to the airport. he set his things down in the corner of the room, cracking his back before turning back to the girl. "come on, i wanna show you the rest of the house."

he nodded, but hesitated to ask what was on his mind.

"um, i don't know if this is an appropriate question to ask..."

"no, i know what you're gonna say. and it's okay," amalie stops in the center of the platform that the rooms all met at. she cleared her throat. "my brother, jackson. he got shot around here," she moved closer to the stairs, but not on them. "my mom got shot on the stairwell, like midway i guess." she gestured further down. the staircase used to be carpeted, but it had been ripped up since. "and uh, my dad..." she walked over towards the double doors of her parent's bedroom. she'd shut them since she got home. amalie hadn't collected the desire to go in there yet. "the doorway. it only took three shots, one for each."

cam scratched his head as he watched her.

"do you think about it at all?"

"i used to. it is really weird living where the crime took place, but sometimes it feels like they're still here. so as much as i feel odd about it, it's comforting at the same time." she shifted her weight, playing with the abundance of rings on her fingers. "sorry! that sounds so creepy--"

"no, you're a sentimental person." cam excused.

"yeah, the house meant too much to me than to just sell it."

plus, she didn't know what she would do with all of their stuff. amalie didn't want to get rid of it, though she knew at some point she would need to. in the future, she would go through everything, which a lot of random stuff was stored away in the basement because her mom was a whore for antiques. but it was all unique stuff, stuff that they inherited from her grandparents.