Deals With The Devil's Spawn

I'm that good

Staring at the roaring fire crackling in front of me, I let my eyes slip shut, enjoying the warmth and quiet. After spending the day with Brayden’s family, Macy had come up with the idea for the twins, her and I to build a campfire and roast some marshmallows for s'mores.

After a few s'mores and stories of the three of them getting into trouble, Cade and Macy had called it a night and headed up to bed. Brayden and I had decided to stay a bit longer.

"You okay?" Brayden, sitting on the log facing me, one of his legs behind me and the other one resting in the space beneath my bent legs, asked.

Turning towards him, I smiled. "Yeah. I had fun today, despite everything blowing up in our faces."

He snorted. "I honestly did not expect my dad to be the one to catch on."

I shrugged, smiling. "Either way, I still had fun."

"Yeah?" He smiled, and I nodded.

"I did. You have a great family," I told him, and he huffed out a breath.

"They're all crazy, and lack boundaries," he replied, shaking his head with a roll of his eyes.

"But you wouldn't trade them for the world," I replied, smiling knowingly, and he smiled back.

"No, I wouldn't, as crazy as they are," he replied. Nodding, I turned back to the fire. A comfortable silence settling between us, only the crackling of the fire to be heard in the silent night.

"My dad and I used to go camping once a year when I was younger...before all of the...you know," I mumbled, breaking the silence, and staring at the fire dancing in the dark night, the flames licking at each other.

"What was he like?" He asked, softly. I could tell he was trying to thread lightly, something I had learned wasn't easy for Brayden, but I knew he was trying his best to change that. If he only knew that by this point, I was ready to spill my guts to him.

"He wasn't the best dad, he was just...there. He worked a lot, barely home, and when he was, my mom would tell me to stay in my room. The only real time I spent with him was at those camping trips," I told him, shrugging. I'd never been a daddy's girl, my father and I didn't have that type of relationship. He hardly had time for his family; he was a cold man, who didn't really know how to be a part of a family.

"Do you miss him?" He whispered loud enough for me to hear. Sucking in a shaky breath, I turned towards him. His blue eyes met mine, the fire dancing across his beautiful face, and I let the breath out, shaking my head.

"No, I don't. I never really knew my father, and after that night, I didn't want to anymore," I told him, shrugging a shoulder. I hated the man, he was to blame for all the misery my mom and I had gone through. "I don't know if the beating was a constant thing, but when I think about my childhood, I remember being scared in my room. My mom doesn't like to talk about that time, she always avoids it."

"I’m sorry for what he did to you, Porter," Brayden replied, staring at the ground, his fingers wrapping around my hand.

"It’s okay, it's not your fault," I told him, giving him a soft smile, and he shook his head.

"I know, but I'm sorry that you have to go through what you do, no one should be treated the way you and your mom are," he replied, and I smiled, shaking my head in wonder.

"I don't care what they do to me, it's my mom I worry about. After what happened, it was hard for her. She cried a lot at night, she doesn't know I know that, but I could hear her," I mumbled, a lump growing in my throat, "...thin walls... My father's biggest sin was what he did to her."