Burn Bright ( An Adopted By The Yogscast Story)

Chapter 10 - I Get It Now

"Ember....Are you awake?"
I rolled over, pulling my blanket around me more. No, I'm not awake. Leave me alone.

"Ember. I know you can hear me."
No I can't, go away.

"I saw you move, you're awake."
Shit. Busted. I sat up. No point in trying to pretend anymore. It was still dark; Tom must have just gotten home. I stared at him through the darkness. He shifted in my doorway, then walked in.

"I just...wanted to apologize for this afternoon.." I nodded slightly. I was tired, I didn't have time for this, I wanted to sleep more. But he clearly felt this was important. So I'd put up with it. He turned my lamp on and sat beside me.

"I'm just worried about you. All I know about you is that your family is gone. I don't know why. I don't know if they hurt you. I don't know if you had a good life. And then, today, you just started crying and I got so scared." I reached for my board and marker.

'Scared?'

He nodded, "I just kept thinking about what might have happened to you that I don't know about and...I was scared we hurt you.." I shrugged, tugging my blanket out from under him and wrapping it around me. Was he done yet?

"Did we hurt you?" He sounded soft, genuinely concerned. I wanted to tell him that they couldn't have hurt me. Because I don't get hurt. Not "emotionally". But, looking at him, at this ginger haired man child who just wanted to take care of me, I couldn't make myself brush him off. I couldn't push his feelings aside just because I didn't have any feelings. So I shook my head.

'I was just tired.'

He relaxed and smiled at me, "Let's just chill tomorrow. You and me. I'll kick the boys out and we can watch movies or something." I looked down at my board. Tom wanted to spend time with me. Nobody ever wanted to spend time with me. My sisters did, back when I was young enough for them to play dress up with me. I was just their silent little model. Better than a doll. They left me alone when I got too old to boss around. And nobody at school wanted to hang out with a mute girl. My parents were too busy with their other kids. The loud and happy ones who wanted to do things.

"Is that okay?"

I nodded. It was more than okay.

He smiled more, "Can I hug you?"

I blinked, staring at him. Hugs. I'm not used to those. I don't know if I ever will be. Tom looked so hopeful. I nodded again. He wrapped his arms around me and I leaned against him. He was just as warm now as he was hours ago. Most people only hug someone for a few seconds. Not Tom. He held me until I fell asleep, which didn't take very long.
"Goodnight, Em. Sweet dreams."

-

"Leo George Taylor I'm going to kill you!"

"I'd like to see you try, Alex Caspar Parvis!"

"Guys, shut the fuck up, you're gonna wake my kid!"
Too late. I rubbed my eyes and kicked my blankets off. What the hell are they yelling about this early?

"All I want is a bowl of cereal, but noooooo, Leo just had to use the last bowl for his fucking ramen!"
Seriously? They're yelling about bowls? I got to my feet and tiptoed out, standing in the doorway to watch them. There's nothing quite like a group of grown men dressed in nerdy pajamas arguing about bowls at 7 in the morning. They didn't even notice I was in the room until I turned the water on in the sink.

"Jesus Christ, Ember, you scared the shit out of me!" I turned and gave Tom a sleepy smile.

"See what you did, Leo, you woke her up!" Parv was loud. Even in the morning. Leo snorted,