Beast Beloved

Chapter Thirty Five

*

"Sorry sweetie," Jenny whispered, "I was just turning off the tv."

Eli blinked back the blurriness in his vision, and slid out from Cameron's grip. He didn't wake up. He went with Jenny into the kitchen, quietly closing the door behind him. Marcus and Noah were sitting with steaming cups at the table. He glanced at the time. "I get a curfew, but you're all out until the middle of the night." He let out a long yawn and sat back down, pulling Noah's cup away from him.

Noah just reached over and messed up his hair, flashing him a smile.

"I'm guessing it went well with Kaylen." Eli said. Noah's smile twitched, and Eli knew he'd gotten the cause of his good humour spot on.

"He was just telling us about his date." Jenny reported, putting the kettle on again.

"It wasn't a date." Noah objected.

"Uh huh." Marcus hummed with clear doubt directed at Noah.

"Why was the front porch a mess?" Noah asked suddenly, changing the subject and turning the focus of the conversation onto Eli.

"Ah, crap forgot about out there." Eli wrapped his hands around the cup, "Cameron and I ended up covered in mud, so we came back to change. He cleaned up the hallway, guess we forgot about the porch."

"You made him clean it up?" Noah snickered.

"I was in the shower." Eli smacked his arm to make him stop. He didn't want him laughing at Cameron being sweet. "I would have helped."

"This was from him too wasn't it?" Noah flicked the plastic container, "You're being spoiled rotten."

"I think he's very sweet." Jenny squeezed Eli's shoulder as she sat next to him. "Noah, you can take some pointers on how to treat Kaylen."

Noah pouted, and Eli laughed at his expression.

"You wouldn't be laughing if you knew what he was like before." Noah stood up from the table, "I'm going to bed."

They all said goodnight, and Eli got up too. "I'm going to try get Cameron onto a bed instead of the couch."

"He looked wiped out, but good luck." Jenny smiled.

Eli was glad there wasn't any objections to him spending the night. He was also glad that the rogue had dropped out of regular conversation. He sometimes saw Jenny and Marcus whispering to each other with serious faces, and imagined they were discussing what they'd seen. Even if he'd wanted to enlighten them, Monroe had spoken to him about rules, stressing that he'd get Cameron into trouble alongside himself. He'd bristled at the threat, but at that point he'd already decided he wasn't going to tell them anything.

He found Cameron still fast asleep, lying on his side. He was surprised that even him leaving didn't wake him up. He brushed a few strands of hair out of his face and stared down at the peaceful expression. He felt bad stirring him.

"Cameron." He sat on the edge of the couch, "Let's move up to the room."

Nothing.

"It'll be more comfortable" Eli gave his shoulder a small shake.

Nothing.

He let out a long breath and leaned his cheek on his arm. "You're really tired, huh." He could see the edge of bandages under his shirt. He understood why. He couldn't imagine how he'd feel knowing that someone was actively hunting Cameron, for weeks. If that were to happen there wouldn't be anything he'd even be able to do. He'd have to ask Valerie for another gun.