Chapter 10: What's Family For?

You're gonna learn why Nikki was sent to Camp Green Lake.

And a little about someone else…

Sorry for the late update!

Enjoy!

XoXoXoXo

All the excitement from earlier that night was having its toll on you, and listening to Armpit snoring was not helping. Deciding you're not going to win the battle to sleep, you irritably throw your blanket off you.

"Can't sleep either, huh?" asked a voice from the darkness. You instantly recognize the voice as Squids and answer.

"No… and I'm starving! I gotta stop letting Lump get to me…" you sigh, trying to comfort your growling stomach.

"Yea I'm pretty hungry too…" You hear him get up and start walking towards the tent opening as you follow behind him.

"So why are you awake?" you ask sitting next to him on the step.

"It's just one of those nights I guess…" You look closely at him, studying his features.

"Squid, what's going on?"

"What do you mean? I'm fine…"

"Come on, don't play dumb. You haven't hit on me once, obviously something's wrong!" You joke, making him chuckle. "But seriously… what's wrong?"

"Today was my dad's birthday…" He states gloomily.

"Are you and your dad close?"

"I haven't seen my dad in a while. He left me and mom when I was 7."

"Did he ever say why he left?" You ask, curiosity getting the best of you.

"He couldn't deal with being tied down to a family. He got fed up and just left."

"What about your mom? Are you guys close?" He chuckled as you asked.

"My mom's closer to a bottle of whiskey than she is with me…"

"I'm sorry Squid." You say gently.

"So what's your story? Are you and your parents close?"

"My mom was my best friend. We did everything together."

"Do you still talk to her now?"

"No… that would be kinda hard."

"Why?"

"Well she's dead… she was murdered when I was 5."

"I'm so sorry Nikki… Did you ever find out who killed her?" He asked timidly.

"I know who killed her, I saw the whole thing. It was my father…"

"Did he go to jail?"

"Somehow the court found him not guilty. I testified against him… it was what I saw against his word. But he's all taken care of..."

"What do you mean he's 'taken care of'? What did he die or something?" He asked sarcastically. He stopped laughing once he saw the serious look on your face. There was an awkward pause as he tried to change the subject.

"So how'd you end up in this wonderland?" He asked sarcastically; trying to lighten the mood.

"My father."

"What did he have to do with it? I thought he was dead?"

"He is dead… I killed him." You answered as he stiffened next to you.

"But- you wouldn't hurt a fly… you're the most caring person I know." He asked confused.

"Do you know what it's like to grow up in fear? Of your own father? The man who's supposed to be your savior and protect you from harm. What it feels like to have your own father tell you he'll kill everyone you love just so you'll be all alone in the world. I have my brothers… they're all I got left. They protected me from everyone, especially my father, since mom died. He made our lives a living hell. So I did the only thing to keep us safe; I brought my mothers killer to justice. He'll never hurt anyone again… ever."

Squid just sat there, staring intently at you.

"I- yo- I don't even know what to say." He stuttered.

"I'm not a bad person Squid. If you really knew my father, you'd understand why I had to do it. I was protecting my family, like they protected me. I would never hurt someone, he was the only exception. But… it's all in the past; where it belongs. I've moved on…"

"And I thought I lived a terrible life… I don't- you are-" He sighed and throw his arms around you. You stood in shock as you patted his back unsurely. "What do you say we get some food?" He asked, pulling away from you.

"If you can call it that…"

"You're up for it?" He asked shocked.

"Let's do it."

You both quietly ran across the camp through the darkness towards the Mess hall; careful not to get caught. You find the door unlocked and quickly jump inside.

"You lead the way, I still don't know my way around this place too well."

"Alright stay low and follow me…"

You followed him to the back of the kitchen, towards a big refrigerator. You opened the heavy door, and saw food that made your mouth water.

"Why don't they feed us this?" you asked in outrage as you looked upon the most scrumptious cheesecake you've ever seen.

"I didn't know the cook was capable of such art!"

"You're telling me…" You look at each other mischievously and take a handful. You stuff your face when you think of the guys of D- tent. "Wait, Squid. We should bring some of this to the guys too. We can't be greedy and eat all of it."

'Why not? The guys won't mind…"He protested.

"Squid…"

"Alright… jeez!" You grab the cake, turn around, and stop dead in your tracks.

"What?" He asked.

"Grab that carton of milk… we're gonna need it."

"Good thinking…" He agrees as he grabs it and closes the fridge.

You silently make your way back to the tent when you see Mr. Sir up ahead searching for people out of bed.

"Shit!" You whisper pushing Squid into a shower stall. "Stay down and don't talk!" You tell him as you pull your tank top off. Mr. Sir shines his flashlight on you as you stand there bare-chested.

"Miss Hart! Why is it that whenever we cross paths, you're topless?" he asks looking away.

"I just came for a little shower. Just wanted some privacy is all Mr. Sir…"

"Understood. But next time, please be a little more considerate. I do have to patrol at this hour…" He warned.

"Will do Mr. Sir…" You agreed. He began to continue on his patrol when you called after him. "Sorry about earlier!" He just shook his head and continued on his way.

Once he was out of sight, you put your shirt back on.

"You are so lucky you're a chick…"

"It has its moments…"

You both quickly make it back to your tent and gently set the food down on your cot. You hear Squid take a step back and when you look over at him, he's running at X.

"Squid!" He nearly toppled over trying to stop.

"What!"

"Let me wake the guys up, you cut the cake. And cut it equally!" You warn.

"Alright! She always ruins the fun…" He mumbled under his breath.

You crawl in beside Zero and gently rub his head.

"Zero…" He cuddles closer to you and muttered in his sleep. "Zero… wake up buddy."

"Hmm…" He lazily opens his eyes and looks at you.

"Sorry I woke you up, but me and Squid stole some cheesecake. You want some?"

"Yea…" He rubbed his eyes and sits up.

"Can you wake Caveman up for me? I'm gonna wake Ricky up.." you smirked as he nodded in agreement. You creep your way over to Ricky's cot and kneel down beside him. You inch your face closer to his when he grabs your face and collides his lips with yours. You squeak in shock, but kiss him back. You both pull away and you give him a quizzical look.

"I heard you come in…" Was all he said. Soon enough, everyone was awake and you were handing out cake.

"So how'd you guys get this?" Armpit asked stuffing his face.

"We couldn't sleep and our stomach's led us to the kitchen." Squid said through a mouth full. He swallowed and continued. "I wasn't even gonna give you guys any, but Nikki finally convinced me."

"Greedy bitch…" X scolds as he throws a pillow at him.

"Thanks Nikki." Caveman says.

"Yea thanks." They all add in.

"Anytime guys, what's family for?" You said nonchalantly as they all stared.

"What did you say?" X asked.

""What?" you asked, snapping back from spacing out.

"You just called us family…" Squid added.

"Yea… so?"

"Did you mean that?" Magnet asked.

"Of course… I mean sure, Squid you hit on me, X you're bossy, Armpit you don't shower, Caveman's a slow digger, Magnet's is hard to understand sometimes, Zero's quiet, and Ricky's… Ricky. But I consider you guys all family. Anyone messes with you, I got your back."

"Cheers…" Ricky said as he raised the milk carton.

"Cheers." Everyone agreed, until they realized they didn't have a drink.

"Pass the milk around Zig!" X yelled. He passed it to Magnet as he winked at you.

XoXoXoXo

Aww…

What a heart-warming chapter!

I felt all warm just writing it…

Ha ha ha…

-poisonedspork