Camp Echo Falls (Completed)

Chapter 87

It's dark now. The fire is lit, spiting and crackling as the dying smoke trials up into the sparkling sky. The fairy lights glow in the bushes, quite hooting from an owl breaks the quite night.

A slight breeze makes me shiver and Leo's warm arms pull me closer, his husky cologne making me hazy. His hand slipped under my jumper, his soft touch on my bare skin, running circles on my lower stomach. I snuggle closer to him, starting to really like the way I feel in his arms. I enjoy his company, I feel safe in his arms.

I'm not over what happened. My trust is broken, my nights are longer, I'm constantly having inner battles with my own mind. Did I deserve this? Could I have prevented this? The nights are hard. Leo has been so much help, just letting me cry into his arms or talk for hours, letting my thoughts spill out over and over.

I've spent a lot of time with the girls. Just sitting on the balcony of our cabin or in our room. I just appreciate everything they've done for me, how understanding they've been. Naomi has been struggling with it all, I think she feels guilty. Jax hasn't spoken to me much, I think things are slightly awkward between us now, I know there now issues at home with Will being his brother.

I'm brought back to the campfire when Leo clears his throat. He looks down at me through his long dark hair and smiles, I just look back up at him taking everything in. I just can't begin to accept how beautiful he is. Everything about him is just so perfect, I could stare into his eyes all day and never get bored. I suddenly lean up to peck his lips with mine and I feel him raise his eyebrows surprised, before he relaxes and smiles against my lips.

He leans back for a moment and I lie back down, using his arm as a pillow. He goes quite all of a sudden and I can tell he's thinking, almost like I can see tiny little clogs in the back of his mind turning. "I need to tell you something." He says slowly, his voice low.

A rush of anxiety covers my body, I sit up and he pushes himself to sit opposite me, his legs bent and his arms resting on his knees. I'm starting to worry as he covers his face with both of his hands. He sighs "We were told my mum had cancer two years ago." He chuckles slightly as he bites down on the inside of his lip, "three years too late." His eyes flick up to meet mine and I notice they're teary.

He shakes his head lightly before looking away from me, "I spent every day in that hospital trying to make everything better. Falling asleep in that stiff fucking plastic chair."He runs his hands over his face as he laughs, "drinking shitty coffee from the vending machine to wake myself up." My heart aches, I could have guessed he had a hard past but nothing like this.

I praying to god every night. How stupid is that," he shakes his head and swipes angrily away a tear from his cheek. "We would talk for hours, even with a tumour she was the funniest person I knew." He chuckles and his eyes glaze over with a memory as he smiles.

"She use to kick my arse at cards and to this day I refuse to play a game of queens." I go to sit next to him and take his hand in mine, wanting so badly to hold him in my arms. He looks at me like he's been starved of physical attention all his life. I rub my thumb up and down the side of his hand to tell him to carry on. "I watched every day as she left this world," his voice drops to a whisper, "I watched as she left me." I see as a tear slips down his cheek and reach out to wipe it away.

His eyes flick up to mine confused, confused as to why I'm being so understanding and patient. "I was sixteen." His voice breaks as he looks down at the floor. "I was just a kid." I squeeze his hand and he chokes out a laugh before turning to look at me with a smile."This." He holds up his hand and looks over the ink, this is the one reason that I'm still here." He clears his throat, "It reminds me every day of the one person who loved me more than live itself."