Amelia and I went from being practically inseparable, to having almost no contact in two weeks. The last I'd heard from her was via text, during which she'd voice her apprehension but confirmed that she'd be telling her parents about the therapist. She hadn't had much of a choice left, considering she had finally booked an appointment. We texted for hours and ended the conversation with Amelia's promise to keep me updated.

The only update I received was a few days later, and it was sent by her mother. Amelia didn't have access to her phone for a few days, and I could only assume that meant that she had been admitted.

I had mixed feelings about that thought. There was relief that she was being monitored. There was unsettlement by the idea that she was even better at hiding her struggles than I believed. And there was empathy for Amelia and everything she was facing. I was restless too, angsty with the urge to help, even though I knew I wasn't the right person for the job. I knew this was a good thing, but my heart couldn't help but ache for Amelia and her family.

"Good morning, Addilyn!" Jaxson's chipper voice rang across the hall, no doubt heading my way. I groaned, not in the mood for his unnatural bubbliness. If he wasn't so stubborn, I'd have locked the door and ignored him. But I knew it would be useless. Like a puppy whining at your door, I would inevitably let him in.

It was a few seconds later that he ensured my decency and burst through my door. The way he entered my room in mid-thigh length blue shorts, white tank-top with matching stripped socks, wristbands, and a headband, was enough to momentarily swipe my thoughts away.

I ignored his greeting and squinted at his outfit. "Your girlfriend must have the patience of a saint," I verbalized.

The bag he was holding enthusiastically dropped to his side with a loud huff parting his lips. "I'm here to cheer you up, so I'm going to let that comment slide." He threw the bag at me with a strength and lack of care that reminded me of Colby.

Pulling the bag open, I found a matching outfit in my size. I crinkled my nose. I could try to argue. I could put up a fight and nag him. But I knew my faith, so instead I asked, "Why?"

"We're going for a jog."

"Nope." This I wouldn't budge on. What on earth made him think I'd ever want to go jogging with him? He looked like the type of person to run marathons for fun. "How can you claim to want to cheer me up and then voice a form of torture?"

"Jogging's fun." Jaxson pouted. "It's refreshing. When I was overwhelmed with my task and didn't know what to do with myself when Lexi was busy, grandpa took me jogging. It helped clear my mind."

I'm sure in a way, it would clear my mind. Because the only thought that would consume me would be: who the hell genuinely thought running would make for an ideal mean of passing time? Then again, those thoughts would probably drift to the way Amelia would share in my misery and somehow help me enjoy myself.

"Are you and your grandpa big fans or running?"

"Yes. When he was healthy, we went running together a lot."

"That's the problem," I said, and Jaxson frowned. "If you're going to be doing this with more people, you need to find mutual interest. Running isn't one in our case."

"Mutual interest?" He pondered and plopped down next to me. "If we had it your way, you'd wrap yourself in a blanket and mope around all day."

I puckered my lips distastefully, unable to contradict him. Propping his head on his arm, he stared at me wordlessly. I could see the wheels spinning in his head. When blue eyes lit up, I groaned. I curled into a ball, taking advantage of my last few seconds of peace.

Jaxson shot out of bed, his excitement from the idea that had stricken him palpable. "A blanket fort!" He grinned from ear to ear, while I cringed.

"Come on." He placed his hands on his hips. "Everyone loves a blanket fort. No matter their age."

He wasn't wrong. I just had the bad habit of prolonging my misery. As if I didn't deserve to feel any differently. Plus, to refuse him in that state, would be like kicking a puppy.

I showed him my decision by rolling out of bed. Jaxson cheered and shoved the bag in my direction again.

"You still have to wear this though," he said. "I'm committed to the matching outfits."

I put on the ridiculous outfit, and then helped Jaxson gather as many blankets, sheets and pillows we could find. Luckily no one else was home. The living room was a disaster as we tried to get organized.

Throwback playlist blaring from the speaker, we got to work. Midway through rearranging furniture, Jaxson disappeared. Figures he'd let me do the heavy work. Rolling my eyes at his affinity to be easily distracted, I paid his disappearance no mind. Caution only sparked when banging and grunts echoed from upstairs.

"Jaxson?" I called warily.

There was a little more ruckus, before he finally responded. "Coming." The way he grunted the words doubled my concern.

I poked my head in the stairwell and jumped back just as soon. Two mattresses tumbled down the stairs, followed by Jaxson laying belly down on another two stacked mattresses. I shielded my eyes from the scene, reminding myself that he was already dead.

When the final bang followed by silence marked his landing, I squinted my eyes open. Down by my feet rested Jaxson's head, body only partially on one of the mattresses. He blinked in surprise but otherwise had no reaction.

I didn't know whether to call for help or laugh. When he sat up with no complaint, I laughed into my hands. "You're a hazard to yourself," I decided. "At this point, I can't say that I'm surprised you died young."

"Still too early for the death jokes." He squinted his eyes at me. In no time, he shot to his feet, and dragged two mattresses along with him. He made sure to bump into me on his way to the living room.

Grabbing my own pair of mattresses, I followed Jaxson with a pinched nose. "Aren't the others going to be upset when they find their beds empty?"

Jaxson rolled his eyes. "That's such a Leonard question."

"I'm okay with being a Leonard if it means being considerate."

If he rolled his eyes anymore, he'd give himself a seizure. "I only took ours, my grandpa's and one that was unoccupied. Ye of little faith."

While I thought he was approaching to help me with my load of mattresses, instead he pushed me over, trapping me between the two. "Jaxson!" The second I scrambled out from the entrapment, my head was swatted with a pillow, and another was thrown in my arms. "You're really diving into the child-like behavior, aren't you?"

He answered by swinging at me, again. We scuffled around like siblings for a while, only taking the fort seriously when we ran out of breath.

I had never seen such an impressive fort. Every time I turned around, I found Jaxson with a new item in hand. The fort was lined with dangling lights.

"Shouldn't you be reserving your angel powers for something more important?"

He didn't even look up from the projector he was setting up. "Nonsense. There's no such thing as utilizing too many resources on a mental health day."

I smiled at his back and flipped through the sleeve of CDs he had handed me. The options were endless. Jaxson was shockingly patient with my long search. I couldn't even decide on the genre I wanted to go with it. I was a little irked that the only reason I finally made a decision was because of a recommendation made by Amelia about a month prior.

It's not that any part of me disliked Mia. On the contrary, I probably cared a little too much. But I disliked the extent to which she seemed to have infested my mind.

"This is the living room— What in tarnation?" Leonard's voice made me jump, bun atop my head getting tangled in Jaxson's excessive lights. I looked at Jaxson, hoping he'd deliver our explanation. But he was silent. He didn't utter a single word until Leonard poked his head into the fort entrance. When a second head appeared beneath Leonard's, Jaxson grimaced at the smiling middle school aged boy. I frowned a Jaxson's grimace. Not exactly a welcoming greeting. What had the poor kid done to him?

"This must be Finneas." Jaxson rectified his face, plastering his most charming smile before he winced again. "I thought you were coming tomorrow."

There was my confirmation that the boy was one of our newest members. A currently unoccupied bed he had said... His reaction suddenly made sense.

"Plans changed," Leonard said, his turn to frown at Jaxson. I'm sure he thought his grandson's response lacking in hospitality.

"Well, it's nice to meet you." Jaxson opened the entrance wider, encouraging the two inside. "I'm very sorry to inform you that I've already made a mess of your room."

Finneas shrugged carelessly, wide eyes taking in the lights and ridiculous number of pillows. "I'm used to sleeping on the floor."

Jaxson looked appalled. "That is by no mean what I was implying." Blue eyes narrowed as if pained by the idea that Finneas would even think so. "How do you feel about starting your quest with a sleepover? Totally understand if you don't feel up to it. And I will gladly fix your room to an even better state than I found it in."

"I haven't had a sleepover in a long time." He fully entered the fort, making himself comfortable in answer to Jaxson's offer. He headed straight for the laptop. "What's this?"

Jaxson and I looked at the boy poking the laptop with curiosity, and then turned our befuddled faces towards Leonard.

The man shrugged. "Different timelines."

"I knew that," Jaxson retorted. "But I didn't think he was that old."

Finneas' head shot up as if to object to being called old.

Jaxson looked at me to explain. "He knew a woman that was here not long ago. And she's relatively from our timeline."

Leonard shrugged again. Not for lack of information but lack of permission to share. "Finneas is visiting that woman, twenty some years before her death."

Jaxson and I grunted a confused "huh" at the same time.

"But what's the point?" I tried.

Leonard scratched the back of his head. "It's complicated..."

"Ah," Jaxson answered. "Another, you don't want to know, type of situation."

Just like that we dropped the subject.

I was sprawled on my mattress, speechless as Finneas dropped another hint about the type of life he lived, when my phone dinged. I flipped the screen casually to look at the notification. When I saw the name, I nearly launched the screen across the fort.

Amelia.

There was no text message, just a selfie. She was back home. I recognized the navy-blue comforter from her mom's house. Though there were dark bags under her eyes, I was happy to note the softness in her gaze, some of the previous achy tension dissolved.

I didn't know any way to respond, other than sending a selfie in return. I could have asked her how she was feeling. But we both knew of the elephant in the room, and if she felt like addressing it, she would.

Maybe she didn't know what to say. Maybe she was seeking a few moments of normalcy. Whatever the reason, I was thrilled to hear from her. I was all too eager to send her a selfie surrounded by blankets and twinkling lights. Her response was instant.

Amelia: Where are you?

Amelia: Is that A FORT?

Amelia: I'm so jealous.

I chuckled at her stream of responses.

Me: Why be jealous when you can join the fun? I'm sure if there's anyone who can build a better fort than this, it's you.

Amelia: BRB. I'm off to steal every pillow and blanket in the house.

She sent me a picture of every step and I found myself screenshotting dozens of pictures. Pictures of blurry feet running up the stairs. Closets turned upside down. A hand scrambling to hold onto a stack of pillows. My favourite grin squished against her collection of items. Green eyes shining in the darkness of her strung blankets... Every new picture made me laugh more than the last.

Considering the short time it took, her fort was quite impression. I told her so.

Following my congratulatory text on her skills that rivalled Jaxson's, she sent a video. The short clip of her drawing a unicorn and clipping it at her makeshift entrance made me grin. The thought that I could have made her night, even the slightest bit more tolerable made my night infinitely better.

Amelia: Thank you, Addie.

I frowned at my phone.

Amelia: Thank you for not treating me any differently.

Amelia: I needed this. Needed to feel like life was going back to normal <3

I turned the screen off and brought the phone to my chest. My face was going to wrinkle with my new permanent smile. There was no chance of hiding what I was feeling. My expression was an open book. This was one of the first moments in which I genuinely believed that Mia was going to be okay.

"That was a great movie, right?" Jaxson nudged me in the ribs, smirking at me with sparkling eyes.

I tensed, walls shooting up. "What?!" I demanded.

"Nothing."

I narrowed my eyes at him, smacking him with my pillow. "I know that look. Spit it out. Your silent words are stressing me out more than your actual words."

"You just look happy."

"I am happy."

He smiled again.

"What's with that smile?!"

"If you really don't know, Addie, then I can't be the one to break the news."

"Break news?"

Jaxson hummed. "Even though you have to break it to yourself, I think you're the last to know."

"What..." The look of pure confusion on my face must have been prominent, because Leonard took pity on me.

"Jaxson," he chuckled. "Leave the poor girl alone."

Well... That didn't really make me feel any better. They dropped the subject, but that didn't stop my face from growing more crimson by the second. I didn't want to think about whatever they were insinuating.

Instead, I fell asleep to the picture of Amelia smiling in her blanket fort.