Chapter One

Cameron Bale sat staring out the window, waiting for his mother's car to pull up

He was upstairs, in his on again, off again, girlfriend, Nikki's room, they were currently on, so she'd taken him in when he needed her most.

Cameron's father was an alcholic and he would hit Cameron when he lost control. Cameron had opened up to Nikki about it, after she promised not to tell her Aunt Ava, who she lived with.

Except Nikki hadn't kept her promise and Ava had gone to comfront Cameron's father, Kyle, which had resulted in Cameron getting hit a little more than usual and him running to Nikki's

He heard someone come up the stairs, but he didn't turn around, he knew who it was from the loud foot steps

"Nikki's downstairs" Derrick, Nikki's little brother, said

"I know" Cameron said, still facing the window

"Aunt Ava wants to know if you want any breakfast?"

"No thanks I'm fine Derrick. Tell her thanks anyway"

"Why don't you come and wait downstairs?"

"I want to be alone for awhile" He said quietly

Derrick took the hint "Ok...see you later"

"See you later" He mumbled

Derrick headed down the stairs back into the kitchen "He's not coming" He slid back into his seat "But I'm sure I heard her stomach rumble"

Nikki sighed "I guess I should go talk to him..."

"No" Johnny, Ava's boyfriend, said "If he wants to be left alone, just leave him. It's not like you'll never see him again, you have school..."

"But that's all we have! His mom lives too far away..."

"Well, he can come stay here some weekends if you want" Ava said

"Thanks Aunt Ava" Nikki said and took a bite of her toast.

A car pulled up outside and a small blond woman climbed out, she went in to the back and got out a toddler. She knocked on the door of the house, Nikki answered.

"Hi" The woman smiled "I'm Cameron's mom, here to pick him up"

The toddler, now obviously a girl, shouted "Cam-Cam!"

Nikki smiled at the little girl, she was sweet, his mom must be a child minder or something

"Cam-Cam!" She shouted again

"Coming Ella!" Cameron called back. The tone of his voice had changed from when Nikki spoke to him this morning, it was happier, but maybe he always spoke like that when talking to little kids

Cameron came down stairs, back pack on one shoulder and a bag in his other hand, he smiled at the little girl "Hey"

She waved and put her arms out to him, he took her and juggled with his bags, as not to drop anything.

"Ella, this Nikki" He said to the girl

Ella pointed to Nikki and said "Nikki" which made them all smile

"Go put your bags in the car Cameron, I'll be there in a sec" His mom said

As Cameron headed out, still holding Ella, Cameron's mother turned to Nikki "Can I talk to your Aunt for a sec?"

"Sure, this way" Nikki started heading towards the kitchen "He's really good with Ella"

"Yes" His mother smiled "His Uncle says they're more like father and daughter than brother and sister, I'm surprised he likes helping out so much"

Nikki stopped "Ella's his sister? He never said he had a sister"

"Didn't he? Well he has a lot on his mind right now, he probably thought he'd already told you"

Ava stepped out of the kitchen at the sound of another voice "Hi, you must be Cameron's Mom" She smiled "I'm Ava"

"Hi, I'm Joanne" Cameron's mother smiled back "I just wanted to say thanks for having him during...this time"

"Oh its fine, he's welcome here whenever he wants" Ava said

Cameron came back, still holding Elly "We're ready Mom"

"Awwww" Ava said "Who's this?" She smiled at Ella

"Cameron's sister" Nikki said, her tone slighty moody

Cameron frowned "What's up?"

"You never told me you had a sister"

"Yes I did, she was a year old when we met"

"You never said"

"I did! I said I have a sister from my mom's second marriage, she's a year old, now nearly two"

"Whatever Cam, I would remember. Just go to your Mom's" She ran off upstairs

"Great" Cameron sighed "Because that helps"

Johnny came out the kitchen too "She's just upset that you'll be so far away"

"She'll be ok in a couple of days" Ava said

"Should I go talk to her?"

"I'll go get Ella in the car while you talk to her" Joanne said, and headed outside

Cameron went up the stairs to Nikki's room, she was sat on her bed, she looked up at him

"What?"

"I don't want to leave with things like this"

"I just don't get why you didn't tell me"

"I thought I did...pretty sure I did"

"Well you didn't" She said

"Why are you so upset?"

"Because you tell me everything"

"Well its actually around the time I met you that all this started with my Dad, I kind of wasn't thinking about every thing. Ella is like, almost my escape. I know it sounds wrong, but I don't mean it that way" He said "Maybe part of me didn't want to share my little escape. I know what you went through was hard, but I'm going through a hard time now. Girls write in journals, I look after my little sister...as gay as that may seem"

"I know you're going through a rough time..."

"So you shouldn't get all het up about the fact that I didn't mention my sister...I know there's somethings about you that I don't know about, but I'm not freaking out about" He sighed "I think we need to break up for awhile...so you can calm down"

"I don't need to calm down, I'm fine. Honestly..."

"No Nikki" He said "Just for a month or two. I know you'll be ok by the end of the week, but I need time to clear my head and see where I am and what I want...ok?"

She nodded "Ok"

He put his arms around her and hugged her, but it was only a friends hug, kissed her head and went downstairs