A/N: I know my chapters are really long, sorry if that bugs you guys. I can start updating in half-chapters if you guys want. PLEASE REVIEW. I'm a newer writer and I look forward to hearing from you guys, even if it is just to ask me to make shorter chapters or to point out a typo. Thanks for reading, I will be updating every Saturday with a new chapter!

"There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other." J.K. Rowling

"If you make it plain you like people, it's hard for them to resist liking you back."—Lois McMaster Bujold

Chapter Two:

I'm not the only one who likes them, the cute toddler does too.

I had the first half of the day, Cindy and Lin took turns on the second half of the day. That was how we had set up the guard schedule two years ago. At first Cindy and Lin complained, but after a while they got used to me taking on most of the work.

I took my seat near the edge of the clearing as I normally would. I listened as the breathing of everyone slowed as they drifted into sleep. I was comforted by the number of calm breaths and focused my mind on becoming accustomed to the sounds of our new members' breathing.

Jasper was almost silent a he sat down at my side. Most people might not have even heard him, but I was so focused on the sound of breathing that the small noise startled me.

"Sorry," he whispered when I jumped.

"Don't worry about it," I said breathlessly.

We sat there, about five feet away, for somewhere near half an hour. I scanned the trees and watched him in my peripherals.

He too was scanning the forest, but he was also watching me. He wasn't very subtle, taking long glances often, but I tried my hardest not to return the gaze.

He scooted closer to me. My heart beat picked up pace slightly but I urged it to quiet. It was silly that I would have such reactions; Jasper was just a guy, and nearly a stranger at that.

"You don't have to stay up, I can handle the lookout," he said in a whisper.

"Cindy and Lin didn't feel safe just having you on guard." I felt almost guilty telling him that, but he looked at me almost hopefully.

"Would you feel safe with just me on guard?" He asked earnestly.

I looked up at him; he was just about a foot away. It felt slightly awkward, having him so close, but it didn't feel dangerous. It felt much the opposite in fact. Why is that? The question burned in my head. It made no sense that I should trust him, but I simply did.

"Yes." The word was out before I had had even finished comprehending the question. He looked at me and smiled. His smile was warm and gentle; it nearly took my breath away.

"You should go get some sleep." I considered the option for a moment, I was exhausted. In the end I gave the only answer I could.

"This was the arrangement my friends and I came to." He honored my answer with a nod. I could tell he understood the process of group decisions.

"How are your guard schedules set up?" He whispered casually.

"I have the first half; Lin and Cindy alternate the second half," I said matter-of-factly.

"You don't split it in thirds?" He asked with honest curiosity.

"No, the other girls need their sleep." He looked at me with mock scorn and narrowed his eyes.

"So do you," he said in a voice that was less scorn and more genuine concern. I glanced at him and changed the subject off of me quickly.

"What is your schedule? Do you split it in thirds?" I asked with curiosity.

"No ours is the same as yours. I take the first half while Aidan and Ian alternate the second half."

I looked at him in almost disbelief. Was our likeness why I trusted him?

"Hypocrite," I whispered at him.

"What?" He whispered, confused.

"So you're saying that I need sleep and you don't? Is it because I'm a girl?!" I was joking, but having to whisper was marring my sarcasm, causing him to fall under the impression that I was being serious.

He started backtracking, speaking quickly and stuttering. "No I….. I would never….. I didn't mean….. what I meant was…" I cut off his struggle for words.

"I was joking," I whispered, half laughing.

He joined in my hushed laughter. His laugh was low and musical, the kind of laugh you never forget.

My laugh had always been too loud, too wheezy, and too strange. As a child I was made fun of for it. I felt embarrassed by it, until I noticed how he seemed to be soaking it in and cherishing it. It startled me, his expression.

"You're laugh is very unique, I like it," he said, still chuckling lightly. My cheeks warmed and I giggled foolishly.

"When I was ten, Cindy broke a guy's nose because he was making fun of my laugh." I laughed even more at the memory of Tommy Handrigs running around like a chicken with its head cut off.

"So you guys have been friends for a long time?"

"A long time."

"How old are you and your friends?" He asked, seeming almost too interested. He seemed too interested in everything about me.

"We're all seventeen."

"Really?" He whispered in disbelief. "I thought that you were at least eighteen."

"Everyone always assumes that I'm a year older, and Cindy is just a really assertive girl that's a year younger." People used to make that assumption a lot.

"How old are you and your brothers?" I asked, hoping I hadn't assumed wrong about their ages.

"Aidan turns seventeen in about a month, Ian is nineteen, and I just turned twenty." I internally congratulated myself for being close.

"Do you want to tell me your story? How you got here?" He asked quietly.

"You first, I'm sure yours is a little less complicated," I said, still giggling a little.

"Well, we're brothers and we lived in Chicago. When the disease started spreading we started to worry. We watched its progress in the news; we even got to see its symptoms first-hand with our parents.

"When the three of us found out we were immune we became a little worried, so as soon as the infected people became hostile we ran. We've been running ever since, and, other than you, we haven't met any other immunes. We were starting to worry that everyone else was killed." He looked at me affectionately.

"We're not the only ones, trust me," I muttered. He looked at me in curiosity, but he let it go when he noticed that I obviously wasn't going to explain.

"Your turn now." He said cheerfully.

"Well, Cindy, Lin, and I have been best friends since we could crawl. And the kids are my younger siblings. We all were immune, and so was my father. When he started to notice that the infected were hostile towards the immunes, he tried to reason with a few of the infected." I struggled to continue. "They killed him."

"I'm so sorry." He whispered as he placed his hand on mine. I welcomed the needed comfort.

"When we saw it on the news as some kind of execution, I decided it was a good idea to run. So I gathered everyone and we snuck out in the middle of the night." It was only two years ago, but it seemed so long now.

"There was such a large group of you, I wonder why we seem to pop up in groups…" He muttered under his breath. "Have you run into any other humans?" He asked as if he already knew the answer, and he probably did.

"Yes," I whispered in an acidic tone that I almost immediately regretted using.

"Si-ss-y!" Emma wailed. My head popped up and I saw her small body running towards us. She stopped and sat down on my feet, burying her head in my legs.

"What's wrong, sweets?" I asked as I stroked her head.

"I have bad dweam." She cried into my legs.

"Well don't worry." Jasper whispered. Emma lifted her head up to look at him and sobbed. "I know how to scare bad dreams away." I watched him as he smiled at Emma.

"You see, all you have to do is yell 'BOO' at the bad dreams," he said, still smiling sweetly.

"BOO!" Emma exclaimed.

She leaned against his leg and put her head down on his knee and closed her eyes. Jasper whispered something into her ear that calmed her far more than anything I had ever seen when she had awoken from a nightmare.

"Cold," she muttered.

Jasper put his arm around her and pulled her into his lap. She buried her face into his chest and begged. "Tell me the story sissy."

I began the story over again, repeating what I had told the night before until I reached where I left off "…As we grew and started Junior High we became interested in different sports and clubs. We made other friends and had separate classes, but we never grew apart.

As we each made friends we each made enemies, and if a person was one girl's enemy they were the group's enemy. We caused mischief, and stirred up trouble. Cindy was too daring, and a little too convincing, and often got us tied up in messes. But with my common sense I kept us out of most trouble, even though Lin had no problem tricking teachers into letting us off the hook.

Everyday we walked to Cindy's uncle's car garage. It was only a few blocks from home and her uncle was kind. We would finish our homework and then we would help Cindy's uncle around the shop. One day this horrible man came in, he had a mole right on the tip of his nose! We played the nastiest tricks on him.

About half-way through our freshman year in high school the disease broke out and we ran away. Now we live together, and we take care of each other. Now we are one big family." I finished. I left out so many of the frightening occurrences between happiness and our new family.

Emma was asleep, cuddled into Jasper's chest. I envied her momentarily. I wanted to be asleep in his arms too. Jasper smiled up at me, and I asked a question to stop myself from speaking my envious thoughts.

"What were you whispering to her?"

"I was telling her the story of the little girl who defeated the king of nightmares." I smiled and laughed under my breath.

"You're great with her," I whispered in awe, not even Lin and Cindy had been able to help her when she had a bad dream.

"It's really nothing." He whispered as he stoked her hair. It was amazing how phenomenal he was with her.

"Wrong, it's something. I was beginning to worry that she didn't like men," I muttered. He chuckled quietly.

"Other than us, how many other men have been around for her to not like?" He asked jokingly. The questioned was rhetorical, but I answered anyway.

"Two," I said in an acidic tone.

"What happened?" He asked kindly, obviously sensing the tenderness of the subject.

"Let's not go there," I muttered, trying not to think about it.

"Okay." He quickly changed the subject, noticing that I was sensitive to this one. "Can I ask you a question that's been bugging me?"

"Depends on the question." I smiled, hoping he would ask something simple.

"How did your bra end up in the principal's office?" He laughed quietly.

"You heard that?" My cheeks flushed, how many of our whispers did he hear?

"Yep. So, how?" He awaited the story impatiently.

"I never really found out, all I know is that Cindy asked me to bring an extra bra to school and then asked me to give it to her. When I saw that she had that look in her eyes I tried to tell her no, but then she asked me to just listen to her. A few hours after I gave her the bra I was called down to the principal's office because he found my bra in his top drawer."

"How did he know it was yours?" Jasper was trying awfully hard not to laugh too loud.

"I had written my name on the tag." I was beat red from embarrassment. "Cindy never told me how it got there; she just looked mad and told me not to ask."

We both laughed as quietly as we could, our laughter shaking our bodies so forcefully I thought my side might burst.

"Our shift is over," he whispered, looking up at the sun.

"Okay," I said as I stood up.

Jasper held tight to Emma as he walked over to Ian, who was asleep on a black blanket he had carried in his backpack. I leaned over Lin and nudged her awake, at first she jumped, but when her vision became clear she stood up and walked over to the edge of the clearing.

I laid down on the purple comforter blanket and watched Jasper. He walked over and kneeled down next to me. He started to lay Emma on my chest but I shook my head. He paused and spoke.

"I don't think your friends would feel comfortable with Emma sleeping in my arms." He whispered while chuckling softly.

"Emma made the choice, and as one of her parental units I give her permission to make the decision." We all agreed Emma's comfort was more important ages ago, and she was obviously comfortable.

"If I get shot, I blame you," he whispered as he pulled her close and stood up.

He unfolded the green blanket he had draped over his shoulder with one of his hands and laid it out on the empty ground next to my blanket. I almost opposed, but it felt safe to have him so close. These days, security was a difficult feeling to locate, and I welcomed its return.

I pulled a blanket over my cold body and watched as he fell asleep six feet from me, holding Emma like a treasure. As I drifted in an out of uncomfortable sleep I would see her precious little smile as she snuggled closer to him in unconsciousness. One often experiences moments in which they know something grand has just occurred, whether that moment is the security of an arm around them, or the smile of a child, these moments shape a person. This moment was shaping me.

Traveling that night went well. Each of the kids—not including Emma—carried two bags of food. Originally the three of us had been carrying three bags, but the guys felt uncomfortable just carrying one bag and insisted that they each carry two so we wouldn't have to carry three.

Lin and Cindy started to ease up around the guys and so did Katie and Arthur. It was physically impossible for Emma to be more at ease with them, she seemed to adore the ground they walked on and expected them to adore her in return. She thrilled to find that they did.

Arthur talked to Aidan every now and then; he also exchanged a few words with Jasper. Simple small talk was all, but right away you could tell that Arthur was trying to get information on them. Katie talked to Ian, the questions she asked were silly, but he answered them like a pro.

Emma, well she wouldn't leave Jasper or any of the other guys—but specifically Jasper—alone. Between poking Aidan, using Ian as a jungle gym, and talking Jasper's ear off—in hardly understandable babbling—she kept busy. The guys were good sports about it though, always smiling at her and allowing her to do what she wished.

Jasper was amazing; he answered her babble and carried her when she started to get tired—it was funny, she insisted he be the one to carry her and no one else. I couldn't help but smile. Jasper was definitely earning himself a fan. The other guys were too, but most prominently Jasper.

Lin and Cindy continued to be aggravating, and so did Aidan and Ian. I probably could have ignored that because they got over each tiff quickly, but when Cindy and Ian started to get into it there were issues. Even worse was when all four of them started to bicker.

"Why don't we just travel by day and sleep at night like normal people?" Ian complained.

"Normal is boring."

"Shut up Aidan," Ian hissed.

"What are you two girls fighting about now?" Cindy had been getting hypocritically annoyed by their constant head butting.

"Whether or not Ian is a prick. I vote yes," Aidan answered mockingly. Ian smacked his arm.

"I was just trying to figure out why we're messing with our sleep schedules," Ian corrected.

"Because when we travel at night there are less people to see us and less people to hear your bitching," Cindy informed him with a bitter tongue.

"Maybe I wouldn't be complaining if I knew where the hell we were going." Ian was nearly beyond frustration, and I didn't blame him. It was unfair that we weren't sharing much information with them, but we needed time to build trust with them.

"Maybe if you stop complaining, you might find out," Lin interjected as she joined the conversation.

"I doubt it. Little Miss Elle over there doesn't trust us farther as she can throw us, and that's not far." So Ian blamed me for the mistrust, I could see why he would assume it was my fault.

"Are you blind? 'Little Miss Elle over there' is the only reason you guys haven't been shot yet! She's not the one who mistrusts you! And what the hell did you expect? For a group of girls to trust a group of male strangers right away? Did that once, won't do it again." Cindy yelled at him.

"It's okay, we get it. Ian's just being a jerk, ignore him." Aidan tried to placate her.

With that Cindy and Lin huffed off to the front of the group and ignored the guys for the remainder of the day. I knew they were both pretty pissed because they didn't once argue or fight with each other, which was a rarity.

"Emma really likes you guys," I pointed out to Jasper as we took our lookout stations that morning.

"I'm glad to hear it. Are your friends starting to like us a little bit more?" he asked jokingly.

"Not much, but at least they aren't considering shooting you guys every time you get close to Emma," I added to bring up a brighter note. Although, and I would never say it, every time Ian touched Emma, Cindy's hand twitched towards her knife.

"So it would be out of the question for you to go get some sleep? You look even more exhausted today than you did yesterday," he said in a worried tone.

Once again I considered it, I was exhausted. I had tossed and tuned last night and barely slept, in fact I spent most of the night watching Jasper sleep rather than sleeping myself.

"Let's not push them," I said. We both laughed quietly.

"Can I ask you a question?" he asked reluctantly, the tone of his voice worried me a little.

"Sure," I answered hesitantly.

"Why don't your friends trust us?" He whispered quietly. Maybe II was deranged, but I didn't think that was he question he really wanted to ask.

"The three of us have good reasons to be distrustful," I muttered.

"Why do you trust me?" His voice was barely audible. I noticed how he said "me" instead of us.

I thought about the question for a minute before answering, I wasn't exactly sure myself.

"There's just something about you, I can't explain it." I blushed heavily as the words came out in a rush. He smiled to himself.

"I'm glad you trust me," he whispered, still smiling. His expression changed to casual, which hopefully meant he was ending discussion on that particular subject.

"Tell me about yourself," he whispered to me while scooting closer.

"What?" I asked confused.

"What you like, what you don't like, your favorite color, your favorite flower, your favorite food, the works." He said casually.

"Okay. My favorite color would have to be either sea foam green or purple. My favorite flower is a tie between orchids and cherry blossoms.

"My favorite food is peanut butter. I like watching sports; I don't particularly enjoy playing them. I like listening to music; I don't like rap or really heavy metal.

"I enjoy singing. I'm afraid of spiders. I'm afraid of falling, but not of heights. I enjoy reading, but I'm not a big fan of mysteries. Oh and I'm a November baby. Did I cover everything?" I asked, nearly breathless.

"So we both share a love for watching sports, our birthdays are a month apart, we have similar tastes in music and we both have an obsession with peanut butter," he said. "I have to hear you sing, " he added

"Not now." I said anxiously.

"Why don't you like mysteries?" He asked.

"I always figure out the ending," I said casually. "Your turn."

"Let's see… I like playing sports, I don't like coffee, and my birthday is in December. I enjoy music—other than rap and techno. I'm afraid of jelly fish. I like reading, and I also always figure out the endings to mysteries. My favorite flower is the Lily, although being a guy I'm not into flowers much. My favorite food is peanut butter. And my favorite color is brilliant emerald with a small hint of blue." I looked up at him and blushed; his favorite color was the color of my eyes.

He blushed too and smiled at me. I stood up and stretched, suddenly feeling restless. Jasper stayed seated but his eyes never left me as I paced.

"You okay?" He asked concerned.

"Peachy keen," I lied. He called my bluff and stood up next to me.

"What's bugging you?" He asked sweetly.

"I'm just a little restless."

We spent the remainder of our shift telling each other stories of our childhood, I got to hear about their tree house, and he got to hear about our park bench. It was nice, sharing stories and learning about him. The conversation just seemed to flow.

When our shift was over I went and nudged Cindy awake. She groggily stood up and began massaging her face. She looked at me and sighed.

"Try to get some sleep Elle; you look like you're about ready to pass out." She whispered as she took her post.

I wish I could have taken her advice. I had another sleepless day of tossing and turning. I could hear Cindy and Aidan whispering to each other although I couldn't make out the words. I listened to Emma's breathing—she had cuddled up next to me—and her soft sighs.

I turned my head to watch Jasper sleep and to my surprise found that he was awake, and watching me with a concerned gaze. I guess he wanted me to sleep too, I found it strange to be watched instead of watching.

Traveling the next night was long, and my exhaustion didn't help. It went as well as the previous night's journey, Emma kept herself entertained by playing with the guys, and everyone was becoming even more at ease with each other.

"What were you and Aidan whispering about last night?" I whispered into Cindy's ear. She blushed slightly and separated us from the group a little before she spoke.

"We were telling each other about ourselves," she whispered, still blushing.

"You like him," I stated

"I think so; I mean out of the three I trust him the most. I don't trust him farther than I can throw him, but it's a start right?" She whispered in an almost inaudible rush.

"Yes, a very good start," I assured her as I put an arm around her waist.

"Do you think he likes me?" She asked under her breath as she looked at Aidan's back. It was a strange thing for Cindy to ask. She had always been the girl that could have any guy.

"Doesn't everyone with a Y chromosome like you?"

"After flirting and work, but do you think he actually likes me. Without the flirting and work." She was talking to me like I'm stupid.

"Yes, I think he does." She smiled.

"Good, now when I flirt I'll know he doesn't just like me for my flirting," she said bluntly as she walked back over to rejoin the group.

"And by the way, not everyone with a Y chromosome likes me. Ian is too busy watching Lin, thank God, and Jasper, well, he can't take his eyes off of you." She giggled at whatever face I was apparently making.

As soon as I rejoined the group I noticed how Jasper kept an eye on me, he was concerned, but I ignored his looks. I started to think about what Cindy had said, and decided she was mistaken. Jasper was just concerned, not infatuated.

Then, of course, I tripped like the completely brilliant person that I am, flinging forward as my foot caught on the rock. I felt an arm wrap around my waist and keep me from making a face plant. I was pulled to my feet gently.

I turned to thank the person, and found, not to my surprise, that it was Jasper who had saved me from making a complete and utter fool of myself.

"Thanks," I said. He didn't remove the hand at my waist as we started to walk again.

"You're dead on your feet, you're lucky we're starting to make camp," He said scornfully.

"No, she's just a klutz," Lin teased; I shot her an angry glare.

"She's both, which isn't good," Cindy added in a serious tone.

We set up camp quickly, although I did it in a daze. Jasper kept a close eye on me, making me feel self-conscious and jittery. At least he had unwrapped his arm from around my waist; Cindy had started to eye his arm in a way that made me worry for its safety.

Emma insisted that she help me "wat for bad thingies" as she put it, so I sat next to Jasper while she fell asleep in my arms. I listened to her soft breathing and closed my eyes only for a second, planning to open them soon and start my watch.

I woke up soon after to find myself leaning against Jasper with my head on his shoulder. Emma slept on our laps with her face buried in Jasper's leg. Jasper's warm arm was around me and his cheek rested on my forehead in the most endearing of ways.

I jumped slightly when I awoke. Jasper lifted his head and looked at me.

"What happened?" I asked groggily.

"You fell asleep," he whispered casually.

"But how…" I looked at our position.

"I figured you'd be more comfortable with something to lean on."

I squirmed out of his arm and sat upright with Emma still draped across our laps. There was only a little space between us, but at least now I could think properly.

"You can go back to sleep if you want, I don't mind," he assured me. I considered the notion, lying back in his arms was not unappealing.

"No, I'm fine. I have a question to ask you anyway." I whispered back. I was fine, I felt well rested.

"Ask away." I could hear the curiosity in his voice.

"Well, I was wondering…" I took a deep breath. "Does Aidan like Cindy?" The question surprised him and threw him off guard.

"That depends, does she like him?" He was still confused.

"I asked first," I pointed out.

"Well, yeah," he answered hesitantly.

"Good, because she likes him and I would hate for her to get hurt." I was relieved, and he heard it in my voice.

"Does Lin like Ian?" he asked quickly.

"She hasn't said anything to me." The question caught me off guard.

"Oh."

"Does he like her?" I was anxious for the answer.

"Yes," He said almost inaudibly.

"Look, Cindy was always the trigger happy one who kept us from being shy nobody's. I was always the one who kept them out of trouble and who was the voice of reason. I was the slightly maternal one. Lin was always the one who went along with it, who had a strange opinion that she usually kept to herself.

"In the past two months Lin has changed, she's become very protective and maternal of Cindy and me. She helped us pick up the pieces. It'll take a little while for her to focus on not watching how you guys act with us to see how Ian acts with her. If he's patient it will pay off." I took him a moment for him to process it all.

"What happened to you and Cindy that made her need to pick up the pieces?" he asked gently.

I was silent and kept my gaze on Emma, refusing to look at him. This was what I was keeping from him, what I avoided talking about. What made the other girls hesitant to trust. Why I had trouble sleeping. This was something I didn't want to talk about. Ever.

"Are you ever going to tell me what happened? I already know a little. I know about when, I know that it was two guys, I know it made you distrustful. Please just tell me," he pleaded softly.

"No," I responded flatly.

"That's fine. I won't pry. I just hope that one day you'll trust me enough to tell me, " he whispered as he put a hand on my shoulder. I thanked him with my eyes.

"I do trust you, probably more than I should, but the wounds are just a little too fresh and…"I trailed off. My voice quivered and I felt tears in the corner of my eyes.

I shook them away like the sign of weakness they were. Jasper put his arm back around me.

"I told you it was fine, and it is.," he whispered gently. I didn't look at him; I was focusing on other things. I shrugged away and scooted Emma onto his lap and off of mine so I could distance myself from him.

"Our shift's over," I said as I stood up and walked over to sleeping Lin.

I nudged her awake as Jasper watched my back. She woke up and looked at my face; she could obviously see the strain to fight back emotion. She looked from Jasper to me and back again.

"I'm going to murder that sick, disgusting, horrendous, piece of…." I put an arm around her waist in restraint. She was reaching for her the knife on her thigh.

"Whoa, stop. He didn't do anything," I assured her as I put my hand on her chest. "And I thought Cindy was the trigger happy one." My teasing sounded off, forced.

"If she had seen you like that he would be dead," she said flatly. "What's wrong?" she demanded.

"I'm just tired," I lied quickly.

"Like hell you are." She could tell I wasn't going to talk. "You will tell Cindy and me tomorrow, otherwise I will shoot him for whatever he did to you," she added threatening, no sign of joking in her tone.

"I will," I said quietly already thinking of how to word my explanation. "And you will not shoot him because he did nothing wrong," I whispered the last part loudly in hopes that Jasper was eavesdropping. He looked ever so slightly relieved, so I assumed he heard. It was my way of apologizing for just walking away.

"Fine I won't shoot him. I'm not making any promises for Cindy though," she muttered as she walked over to where Ian was now standing.

I didn't look at Jasper until he was asleep. He had chosen to sleep by Aidan, not me. I guess I'm not forgiven. That made my heart sink slightly, I felt safer with him sleeping just a few feet from me.

I slept, but not well. Nightmares filled my sleep, nightmares of things I had locked away in the back of my mind.

When I awoke I was in a cold sweat and Cindy was holding me. Other than Lin and Ian, we were the only ones awake, Ian was sitting close to Lin and she seemed worried, not by the close proximity, but by me.

I was shaking in tremors and Cindy was hushing me in a soothing voice. I could see the pain in her eyes; she knew my nightmares because there were mornings where I had comforted her against the same demons.

"Lin filled me in, and when I saw you tossing and turning in a cold sweat I got really worried. What happened last night?" She was whispering in my ear softly.

"He asked what happened to make us distrustful. He figured out things, like that it was two guys…" I trailed off, fighting back tremors; it was so easy for me to show emotion in Cindy's arms.

"Did you tell him?" She wasn't accusing, she was sweet, and she stroked my hair as she waited for an answer.

That was how it had always been. I was strong, smart, and the leader. Cindy was fiery, run by her emotions, and didn't always think things through; but she was also very observant, most especially of me. She saw things that others, even Lin, missed.

She had once told me she was even more observant of me because I was interesting. You might never know it from a first impression, or even a second one, but she was a very good listener, and she was a great safe house.

Even though she had always been independent, she was very maternal of me, but she was also very open with me. She didn't break down often, but when she fell she fell hard, and I was the one to pick up the pieces. That was how it was, how it had been since we were children.

She was patiently waiting for my answer.

"No, I just couldn't." I felt tears come to my eyes as I admitted the truth, that I was too weak to tell him. I wished I could have told him, I felt as though I should have been able to tell him, almost as if he deserved to know.

"Was he angry that you wouldn't tell him?" Her voice was still quiet, but now curious. She could tell she was missing something vital to my pain.

"Not that I know of, he was sweet and kind. I wanted to tell him, I just couldn't." My voice croaked. I looked up and my heart sunk, Jasper was awake and listening.

I sunk my head into Cindy's chest and evened my breathing until the tears and shuddering stopped. I lifted my head and looked up at her.

"I'm fine." It was true. I was fine now.

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