Silence

{24} Reserved

"If you're sure man but hey, if she gets in more danger because of this, you're dead." Yarrow glares at him.

"Trust me, they wont find out. Which school does she go to again?"

{Aspen's POV}

"How can I trust you now?" Caspian inquires, leaning forward in his desk chair with his hands folded in front of him.

"How can I trust you?" I ask him, sitting in one of the seats across the desk.

Caspian looks me in the eyes, stoic as ever. I try to mimic his demeanor but I'm failing miserably. The conversation has just begun and it's been a rocky start. Let's just say we've made no progress.

"Trust is something important to you. You value it because it's the only thing you can give freely and have total control over. I understand it's not to be taken lightly when you put your trust in someone, it means a great deal to you."

How Caspian just read me like a book, I'll never understand. I open my mouth to speak but he beats me to it.

"But the same goes for your brothers and myself. We broke your trust and you broke ours. How do you propose we fix it?" He asks leaning back in his chair, relaxing slightly.

I think for a moment before speaking.

"We need boundaries." I say softly. I'm not going to lie, I'm nervous. Caspian makes me nervous. "No camera in my room and I'd also like a lock on my door. If we're going to learn to trust each other, you need to give me some space."

"That can be arranged." He says after a few moments and I breathe a sigh of relief. "But you need to follow all the rules we established when you first got here. Also for the time being, Rhys will follow you everywhere. I understand you may not like the idea but with what happened with Hudson, you need to be protected."

"Okay, I can do that" I tell him and he nods, "But does Rhys really need to be posted outside of my bedroom each night?" I ask.

"Yes." Caspian replies. By his tone I know not to push any further. "Now, you need to tell me everything that happened, spare no detail."

"Okay." I breathe out.

I know I need to tell him. If this meant any real danger, it would be stupid of me to deal with this on my own.

So I tell him.

He listens intently as I explain, keeping his emotionless face. His lack of reaction shouldn't surprise me at this point. But for some reason it hurts me just a little bit. I wish he could ease up for a few seconds just to make this a little easier, it would make it feel like I'm talking to an actual human rather than a robot.

As I finish the story Caspian nods his head, acknowledging everything I said. He sits still for a moment, as if in thought before looking back at me in the eyes.

"I trust you told me everything?" He asks.

"Yeah" I reply truthfully. I want to ask him something but I feel like I need to ask permission to ask him a question. I know it seems weird, he's only my brother but I can hardly bring myself to speak to him. Come on Aspen, get that confidence boost. "What do you think will happen at the competition?"

"We'll just have to find out for ourselves." He says plainly, making me furrow my eyebrows.

"So, I'm still going to participate?" I ask, visibly confused.

"Yes, your brothers and I will handle the situation." He says.

"How can you handle the situation if you don't know what it is?"