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Carl had never met anyone like Mia in his life. Someone who hid her suffering with a smile. Always so calm and collected when really, she was battling herself in her mind. She was always assuring him that things would be okay. But did she really think that? Carl never wanted to know so much about a person before. They understood each other. Mia was on her own for so long. He was desperate to know what happened to her in all those years. What she was thinking. What she saw. How she felt. And it scared him.
Carl's biggest downfall was how easily attached he got to people and it always ended the same. His mom was dead. Patrick was dead. The world took and took from him and told him to deal with it.
They lied side by side in the dark office. But the light coming in through the window was bright enough for Carl to make out her features. Closed eyes, feather like eyelashes. Her cheeks were squished against the palm of her hands. Freckles dotted on her skin. Dark curls fallen in front of her face. Her chest rose up and down slowly and she exhaled through her nose. Maybe it was the way her nose twitched in her sleep or the way her body lightly jolted at random times, but Carl didn't look away.
"Why are you staring at me?"
His eyes widened. "I'm not." His voice went high and he immediately cleared it.
Mia opened her eyes into slits. "You're doing it right now."
"Oh. . . sorry." He whispered awkwardly.
"Can't sleep?"
"Not really. I'm afraid if I fall asleep something bad'll happen."
Mia groaned under her breath and shifted on the uncomfortable floor. She opened her eyes fully. "You look like you have a lot on your mind." She mumbled to not wake the kids around them.
He really did, he just didn't know what to say first. "Tell me something about yourself." He blurted out.
Mia blinked her tired eyes. "Oh, uh. . ." She struggled to find something to say. His interest shocked her. "My real name is Amelia."
Carl's lips curled into an amused smile. "Amelia?"
"My mom thought I was going to be the poised one in the family." She explained with a quiet laugh.
"Amelia." He repeated and laughed. "Wow, didn't expect that."
She rolled her eyes again. "You ever call me that and I'll throttle you." She shifted again. "Want to play a game?"
"What kind of game?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. You seem to be curious, so, twenty one questions?"
He pulled a face. "Lame."
She rolled her eyes for the hundredth time since she had known him. "We don't have many options here."
"Okay, okay." Carl laughed again. "You wanna go first this time?"
