Skylar's POV

I was embarrassed.

Highly embarrassed.

"Come on, man! I thought someone was trying to break in." Shane whined out loud before throwing himself on the couch.

"But this sight was more...nice." Jesse smirked, glancing at Adrian with a knowing look.

I placed a hand over my burning face, trying to somehow hide the mortification I felt at that moment. My whole face felt like it was on fire--so much so that I could even see red now. Caden, on the other hand, didn't look a bit fazed, not even in the slightest.

He tugged me closer by my waist, nuzzling into my neck, his dark black hair inches from my nose. Did he even care that I was practically dying of embarrassment right now?

"Bad timings," Caden muttered.

"She is the girl," Adrian whispered over to Jesse, which I'm sure wasn't meant as a whisper.

All I could think of doing at that moment was to run back home, up in my own room, crawl under my blanket, and forget about the whole entire world until the next century.

"If I had known you two were making out, I wouldn't have sacrificed my sleep." Shane kept on whining in the pillow.

There's a point when your brain just shuts down after receiving too many emotionally embarrassing signals. I didn't understand how I wasn't there yet.

Finally, after what felt like ages, Caden turned around and faced them. I was beyond grateful to finally hide my face behind his back.

God, it was burning.

"You two don't look like you were sleeping." He narrowed his eyes, probably at Jesse and Adrian. They looked like they might start jumping up in glee any second now. Could they make it any worse?

"We were!" Jesse raised his brows before slinging an arm around Caden's shoulder. "Until we heard voices."

I didn't even realize that Adrian had crept up behind me until he wrapped his arm around my own shoulders. "Voices that sounded like--"

"Oh my God." I blurted out with wide eyes, pressing both of my palms against my burning cheeks. This seemed like a horrifying nightmare. "It's very much embarrassing already."

Both of them broke out laughing. Caden just rolled his eyes.

"Can we talk about the details tomorrow?" Shane looked up from his pillow, trying his hardest to keep his eyes open. "I'm so fucking tired."

I was relieved. Finally, someone was on my side.

"Me too." I looked at him, hoping he'd be kind enough to get me out of this mess. Surprisingly enough, he did. Getting up from the couch, he motioned at me to come along. "I'll be the decent one out of this lot, Sky. I'll show you the guestroom."

I ducked Adrian's arm from around my shoulders, relieved that I was finally being saved from this embarrassing situation, and headed after Shane.

"And here I thought she'd be sleeping in Caden's room," Jesse spoke up and Adrian snickered. Before I could've nearly begged them to stop making this even more embarrassing, Caden grabbed my arm and stopped me from following Shane.

"I'll take her to the guestroom." He told Shane before looking back at Jesse and Adrian. "And you two should leave before I kick you out of this house."

Shane didn't think twice before barging upstairs, probably to escape and sleep (I could relate), while Caden started dragging me behind him. I could still hear a few snickers behind me--Jesse and Adrian not even a bit threatened from Caden's warning. I suppose they must've been used to threats, especially when they seemed to be coming from Caden's end.

When we reached upstairs, I was a bit surprised to see another dark, long hallway in front of me. It still surprised me every time how huge this house really was. There was another pair of stairs along the other end of the hallway, leading to God knows where. We didn't go near it though.

Caden stopped in front of a door and pushed past it. He motioned for me to head inside while he went off in the other direction, leaving me all alone.

I was embarrassed and nervous and so much more mortified. I still wasn't over the sudden rush of feelings when Caden kissed me and touched me just minutes ago. It was still a little too fresh in my memory and on my skin. So sudden and I had equally loved it.

Stepping inside the room, I slowly let my eyes wander. It was mostly empty, a lot tidier than my room ever was, and something about the moon's soft glow spreading around the entire bed made me feel a bit relaxed. I sat down on the edge of it and a small sigh escaped my lips. The bedsheets were extremely soft beneath my fingers, inviting me to doze off as soon as possible.

But soon enough, I saw Caden entering the room and all my sleep--once again--drained away. I stood up and looked at the clothes in his hands.

"Thanks," I murmured, taking them from him but not really looking at him. It made me feel hot from the inside just being so aware of his presence alone.

This was strange. I had never felt like this towards anyone.

Before I could've actually backed off, Caden stepped closer and without really touching me, I felt him place a soft kiss near my forehead. I nearly melted against him right then, when I looked up in his warm, green eyes.

"Just so you know." He started with traces of a smirk. "I really love kissing you."

Love.

I blushed hard, all over again.

•••••

I woke up somewhat in the middle of the night from a horrifying nightmare. It took me seconds to register the unfamiliar place around me as I clutched onto the sheets over me. The room was cold, yet my forehead was still beaded with sweat.

Taking in deep breaths, I tried blinking and adjusting my vision to the wall clock. It was barely three past midnight.

I had been exhausted when I'd finally laid down on this bed, not even imagining waking up this early. But that dream had been unsettling. I only remembered bits of it though. There was Alex, and blood, and fighting, and my parents. Nothing about it seemed to make any sense.

I was glad, however, that I didn't remember it. I usually never remembered having any dreams, and even if I did when I woke up, I usually forgot about them in a few seconds.

Wiping a hand over my forehead, I pushed off the sheets from over me and slid down the bed. My throat felt parched and I needed some water.

When I walked downstairs though, I realized that I might've actually taken the wrong stairs. Mainly because where I was standing right now, it looked more like a basement than the lounge I'd been at hours ago. Certainly a hidden basement.

There wasn't a single source of light in here, save for a faint glow coming from upstairs. I patted my pockets only to remember that these were obviously not my own clothes and my phone wasn't with me. I turned around, ready to go upstairs, and slammed into a wall.

"Aw, fuck." I hissed under my breath, rubbing my nose. After a bit of reaching around, I finally managed to come across a switchboard, and flipped open the lights.

It took me by surprise when I looked across the empty room--the basement. There were huge screens along one corner, all black and switched off, and a panel with switches to its right. My eyes trailed towards a long, glass table in the middle of the room where a lot of small, sharp knives were dumped on. As if that was supposed to be normal.

It might've been. But not to me.

That wasn't what caught my eye. It was the huge bulletin board on the opposite wall that made me frown. I stepped closer towards it and saw several--no, hundreds of scraps pinned on it. Photographs, sticky notes, newspaper articles, and so much more.

My eyes darted across them, stopping at a familiar name scribbled boldly on one small piece of paper.

Kevin Francis.

I couldn't help but read the next few words scribbled below it,

Blake will do anything that he says.
He's got the proof.
Keep an eye on his men.

It was the faint sound of someone's footsteps that made me stumble back from that large board.

I really shouldn't be here.

That's exactly why I closed off the lights in a rush, running upstairs and back in the same hallway that I saw when I'd left the guestroom. This time, I made sure to walk down the correct flight of stairs and found myself in the familiar lounge.

Just like in that basement, the entire lounge was enveloped in darkness. Except that there were windows in here--the moonlight shining right through them.

Cautiously, I walked inside the kitchen, glancing at my reflection in the glass windows. I almost cringed at the loose-fitted clothes I was wearing. I was pretty sure Caden had purposefully chosen the largest of his clothes for me. But I wasn't complaining. Both the hoodie and trousers felt extremely soft against my skin. And they smelled like him.

I was looking around for the fridge when I noticed one of the backdoors was opened, giving me the glance of the backyard outside.

With a small frown on my face, I took a peek outside, noticing a silhouette of someone sitting on the wooden bench.

It was definitely the curiosity that made me walk outside and towards the bench. And when I was near enough to make out the familiar red curls, I relaxed a bit.

He turned around as if sensing the presence behind him, and looked at me in surprise. It was the same nerdy boy I'd come across the first time I came here. He wasn't quite wearing his glasses for some reason.

I then realized that he was still looking at me with his big, blue eyes.

"Hey--I'm sorry. I thought somebody left the door open." I spoke up with a small, sheepish smile.

He narrowed his eyes ever so slightly before letting out a short shrug.

"That's fine. You can join in...if you can't sleep either."

I hesitated a little, looking across the eerily dark backyard. I still didn't understand why this house was in between a whole goddamn forest. It was beyond creepy, especially at night.

Still, I sat down on the bench, a little glad to have some company right now. Company from someone who hadn't witnessed the embarrassing moment between Caden and me.

"You're Seth, right?" I asked him. It had stopped raining, but the air still smelled like an incoming storm.

He hummed in response.

"Why can't you sleep?" I glanced at him curiously. He looked younger than the rest of them, and he probably was.

"Not really a heavy sleeper." He replied slowly. "When Jesse and Adrian started talking loudly outside my room, I woke up." I didn't even need to ask him what Jesse and Adrian must've been talking about.

"Talking about Caden and some girl making out behind the bleachers." He added, leaning back against the bench. "They're very loud when they want to be."

I looked at the tall bushy tree in front of me, willing my face not to heat up all over again. I should've just stayed inside. I should've stayed upstairs. I should've just kept sleeping.

"Oh." I heard him say, before he broke out into a soft chuckle.

"I don't know what you're talking about." A pro tip: if you're tired of being mortified by a certain situation, pretend like it never happened. "There were no bleachers."

"Oh, I know," Seth said. "It's a code word for in the dark."

I shook my head. "This is embarrassing." I didn't even bother asking him why they had a code word for that.

"You can't blame us." He still sounded like he was trying his best not to laugh. "We've never actually seen Caden...that serious with a girl."

That warmed my heart.

"He must really love you." He added.

"He likes me." I corrected him on instinct.

I got an eye roll in response. "What's the difference? Liking someone or loving someone, that's almost the same." He said.

I hadn't ever thought about it to have an opinion on it. I never had to.

"You all seem really close." I looked at him. "Especially with Caden."

He let out another small hum.

"We are. Caden's like an older brother to me." He sounded like he really meant it and I believed him. Everyone knew Caden wasn't the type to hang out with peers from school. No one except Shane. But right here, I'd seen him being more of himself around them.

And that made me strangely happy.

"How did you guys form this--whatever this is--if you weren't related?" I looked over at the trees when I heard the distinct sound of crickets.

"Well, Jesse and Adrian were best friends way before we all met up. They were always into street fights. As far as I know, Caden met them both in one of those underground rings." He told me. "I am kind of related to Caden though."

"You are?"

He nodded.

"I lived in one of those foster homes back then. Until Caden's Aunt adopted me." He continued. "Blake was a problem from the start. I never liked him. And when the...incident happened--"

I took that he was referring to when Caden's parents died.

"--I got along with Caden when things got a bit, well, rough." He shrugged. "I know it may come as a stupid thing to say, but he gave me a life. And I knew I'd help him any time when it came to Blake. That guy's a bit fucked in the head."

I agreed wholeheartedly. Blake was fully fucked up in my opinion.

"Shane, on the other hand, has been his best friend since they were kids. He always stuck by his side from the start."

That reminded me of Alex.

"Alex and I were the same." I found myself saying, almost a slow murmur. "He was my only best friend."

For so long. And then not my best friend one sudden day.

"I heard about him," Seth murmured back, glancing at me. "He's in the...East gang."

We both fell into silence after that. I really didn't want to dwell on all the things I had lost. It just hurt a bit more each time.

"I trusted him to never hurt me," I whispered, still looking ahead into the never-ending darkness.

"Caden's gonna keep you safe. You know that, don't you?" He asked.

That got me to smile a little. "I know."

It was just the silence around us then. A lot more comforting than it was a few minutes ago. It was probably the comforting aura around Seth--or maybe just his eyes.

"I think I'll get some sleep now," I said before getting up. He looked up at me but kept sitting there. "You won't?"

A grin broke across his lips. "I'm used to it."

When I got inside and had successfully drank some water, I went back upstairs--hoping that I didn't have any nightmares this time.

•••••

I didn't have any nightmares.

But something did wake me up the second time too. More like, someone.

I woke up the second time when someone nudged me. With a frown on my face and my eyes still closed, I pulled the sheets over me. I was almost about to fall back into the beautiful world of sleeping unicorns and sprinkled chocolate cupcakes when I felt another shake on my shoulder. A very annoying one, may I add.

"Go away." I groaned.

"You sleep a lot, Anderson." My half-conscious mind was conscious enough to know it was Caden. Since he was the only one here who called me that. The only one who had a knack for insulting my sleep quite efficiently. "Did I ever tell you that?"

"Go away, Caden." I pulled the sheets further over my face. I refuse to deal with this so early in the morning.

Instead of leaving, his hands gripped my arms and pulled me up in a sitting position. Quite easily. I blinked back the grogginess from my eyes, registering his face which was very much close to mine.

Oh dear lord.

"Finally." He made an exaggerating roll of his eyes, failing to hide the amusement from them--like he was enjoying this as much as I wasn't.

"I need to sleep," I complained, pulling the hoodie sleeves over my fists and rubbing my eyes. I had just fallen back to sleep. He was ruining it with his stupidly beautiful face.

"You don't."

"I do."

"Sky--"

I muted him out by throwing my arms around him and burying my face in his chest. My eyes closed shut and it took me just seconds to doze off. Especially since he was really warm and smelled so good.

Oh, it was such a comforting sleep.

Until he shook me again by my shoulders. With a lot more force than he did a few seconds ago.

"Caden!" I groaned against him. I heard a small chuckle escape his lips and my stomach fluttered giddily.

"You've got to wake up." He said, shaking me out of the stupid daze.

Why was he enjoying this?

"Get the fuck out of this room," I grumbled into his shirt.

"I can't really." He pointed out. "You're clinging onto me like a sloth."

I rolled my eyes, even though they were closed, before unconsciously rubbing the tip of my nose against his shoulder. He stiffened a little and pulled me closer, wrapping an arm securely around me.

"It's way past noon already." He whispered in my ear, and I heard the smile in his voice.

If only he could just shut up.

"I'd say I love you if you just let me sleep." I murmured. Surprisingly, he didn't say anything after that. That's when I realized what I had actually said.

Fuckfuckfuck, I thought.

My sleep drained away right on cue and I pulled away from him with somewhat wide eyes. He looked back at me with his green ones shining in pure amusement.

"I...didn't mean that." I blurted out. I didn't even know why I said that. I liked him, yes I did, but I've never said it out loud.

Traces of a smile edged on his lips as he leaned closer, eyeing me all the while. "You didn't mean that." He repeated.

I found myself choked up on answers. Or words.

"Need to...change," I whispered.

He rolled his eyes, the smile not leaving his lips. And for once, I really wished he wasn't smiling. Because that just made me want to keep on staring at him and his goddamn beautiful face and kiss him like last night. And that in turn made me want to tell him that I did fucking love this.

God, I did not need this so early in the morning.

"All right." He got up, probably satisfied that I was wide awake now. "I'll let you change. And we'll talk about this later."

Oh fuck, indeed.

______

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Xoxo,
Crystal 🌿