A Beautiful Reflection From Firework Eyes

Keep Tearing My World Apart

Nothing is working. Between worrying about Kellin and meeting with Jack and Alex, I'm hardly getting any sleep. It's showing too. There are dark circles under my eyes, and I can barely stay awake during Study. Using my power drains me more than usual, and afterward, all I want to do is curl up and sleep—but I can't.

"What do you think they're doing with the information from the Study?" Alex asks. I'm being an idiot again—trading sleep for meeting with Jack and Alex.

"Sell it on the black market," Jack responds.

"Can you be serious for like literally one second?" Alex whines.

"Nope," Jack sticks his tongue out at Alex, who elbows him. Jack and Alex start bickering over something—I'm too tired to stop them this time. The two of them argue like an old married couple. I swallow back a yawn as I shift my position on the floor, leaning my head against the wall.

"Vic, did you hear what I said?" Alex asks.

"What?" I raise my head, trying to remember. Something about—I can't quite think of what was going on.

Alex sees my expression and laughs. "We need to get you some more sleep," he says.

"Probably," I yawn. Did I drift off to sleep? The last few minutes are murky—maybe I did.

"Okay, up you go." Jack pulls me to my feet. "I'm taking you to your room." I can only nod, trying not to keep my eyes open as Jack leads me back to my room.

"Vic, you're literally asleep," Jack mutters as he unlatches the door. 

I mumble a thanks to him as he shuts the door. I don't even hear the door close—I'm asleep before I even register walking to my bed.

I wake up still feeling unbelievably shitty, even after sleeping for almost the whole night. I move to sit up, then freeze as I look down beside me. Kellin is curled up next to me, his head resting against my shoulder, his eyes still shut. I can't help but smile, rolling over toward him. I brush some of the hair that's fallen in his face away, running my fingers down his arm. It seems to wake him up, though, since his eyelids flicker, and he opens his eyes, seeing me and smiling.

"How'd you get in here?" I ask softly, my fingers tracing shapes against his hip.

"Sorry. I can go," he moves to leave, but I pull him back down against me.

"It's fine. I was just wondering."

He lets out a sigh, resting his head against my chest. "I didn't want to be alone," he admits. "Nightmares again."

"Do you want to talk about it?" I ask.

Surprisingly, he nods slowly, shifting away from me, so he's facing me. "I just dream about him a lot," he admits, and I know he's talking about his father.

"That's why I hate being alone," he confesses. "All I can think about are the times I heard him screaming and my mom crying while I hid in the closet." I don't say anything, just pull him close to me, cradling him in my arms. Kellin buries his face in my shoulder as he continues.

"Whenever he found me, he'd—" Kellin swallows hard. "He'd just take his anger out on me. The last night—it was the worse. I thought I was going to die." He takes a deep breath before continuing. "I somehow survived. I was mostly healed the next morning. It was the first time I ever used my powers. That's how they found out. That's why he called them that night," he whispers.

"I'm so sorry," I say, rubbing his back. "Holy shit, Kells, I didn't know." He doesn't respond, but I can see him smile slightly at the sound of the nickname.

"It's better when I'm with you," he mumbles. My cheeks heat up, and I can't help but smile. I hold him closer as if I can protect him from his past and anything that might hurt him in the future.

The door swings open, slamming against the wall. Kellin and I jump in surprise, looking up to see Mr. Styles standing in the doorway, surrounded by a pair of guards.