A/N:
A little epilogue, I felt this story really needed it, so enjoy this last chapter!
Previously:
"I'll still be here when you wake up" Zach promised as his fingers brushed gently through my hair.
"Promise?" I asked.
"Promise" Zach replied. And he never broke that promise.
()()()()
"Don't worry Cammie, you'll get it eventually" my mom said soothingly, but it didn't calm me down, I was so determined.
"Cammie, don't push it" my mom said with more of a hardness in her voice as she prised me off of Zach.
"I don't get it" I whimpered clutching at my side. "I pinned him down within five minutes yesterday!"
"Well I'm getting stronger too y'know Gallagher Girl" Zach smirked. I sighed. I'd brought my mom down here to show her I was now capable of being moved to the same P&E class as the rest of the girls my age but I'd probably done the opposite and made her want me to stop doing P&E altogether.
"Let's try again" Zach pulled me closer to him.
"No Zach, Cammie needs to rest, she…"
"I'm fine mom" I sighed as I felt the pain in my side subside. Me and Zach stood facing each other, I lunged at him. It may have taken longer than five minutes but finally Zach's shoulders were pinned beneath my knees. I smiled in satisfaction.
"Nice one Gallagher Girl" Zach panted.
"Well… I'm still not sure…" My mom started to say.
"Please mom!" I begged. "It's been over five months now!"
"I…"
"Please!" I practically screamed.
"Fine" My mom sighed. "Zach, I'm trusting you to keep an eye on her"
"Oh course" Zach said.
"Thanks mom" I smiled and ran to hug her. She tensed a little before hugging me back. Me and my mom hadn't been on great terms lately, she'd distanced herself from me after I'd been shot, feeling like it was all her fault and I hadn't been quick to forgive her about the whole dumping me in a mental institution and not talking to me thing.
"Are you free to have dinner later?" My mom asked a little warily. I shifted under her gaze guiltily, I'd made excuses not to go for almost three Sunday's in a row now… I really couldn't think of any more excuses.
"Okay" I said. "I'll see you at six"
()()()()
"Hi Bex" I said as I walked into our room.
"Hiya Cammie" Bex smiled.
"How was counselling?" I asked her. She shivered slightly at the word, remember previous counselling sessions gone by, but of course here at Blackthorne counselling was handled very differently, Bex was almost considered normal now.
"Pretty good" Bex smiled. "Mr Solomon said I only had one session left, and me and Macey got moved up to the ninth graders class in CoveOps too"
"Nice one" I smiled.
"I know right!" She grinned as she picked up the 'Advanced CoveOps practise' book. "Did your mom let you move up in P&E?"
"Yep" I grinned back.
"Awesome" Bex said as Liz and Macey walked in.
"How's your senior classes going Lizzie?" Bex asked as she walked in. Although Liz had absolutely no experience of being a spy, she was clever. So clever that she'd actually been put straight into the highest level classes.
"Brilliant" Liz looked ecstatic as she dropped the huge pile of books onto her bed. "I love it all, especially the research track of study! It's fascinating, and Mr Solomon said I don't need counselling anymore"
"Same here" Macey said as she dropped her slightly lesser pile of books onto her bed. "Mr Solomon said I would be fine now if I just keep in a good state of mind or something like that"
"How are your classes going?" I asked her. I knew Macey had had slightly more trouble than the rest of us settling into Blackthorne.
"Not bad" she nodded. "I think I'm getting the hang of CoveOps, hopefully I'll be able to move up with Bex soon"
I nodded. Of course, me and Zach had been able to re-join all our old classes and carry on where we'd left off, it had taken us almost no time at all to catch up with the rest of the class, except of course being shot does hold you back a little in P&E, but now that I was back with my old class for that too it really felt like things were almost back to how they were, except they were better, because of Zach and I had Bex, Macey and Liz as friends.
Suddenly I let out a deep sigh.
"What's up Cammie? Is your stomach hurting again?" Liz asked in concern.
"No" I shook my head. "I have to go to dinner with my mom"
Liz glanced at me sympathetically.
"See you later" I sighed.
"Bye Cammie" they chorused.
I wandered slowly down the corridor, attempting to waste as much time as possible.
"You okay?" Zach's voice made me jump. I turned around and blinked twice at how close he was to me.
"Does it hurt?" Zach's fingers gently brushed over my stomach where I'd been shot.
I shook my head. "Not so much anymore"
Zach pulled me in closer to him as he whispered "Good"
His hands entwined in my hair as he began kissing me and I lost my breath.
"Ahem…" We both jumped apart at the sound of my mom's voice.
"I'll… see you later" Zach muttered as he shot me a sympathetic smirk.
"Bye…" I watched him go. My mom's hand came to rest on my shoulder.
"I cooked chicken nuggets" She smiled. I grimaced but followed her through to her office.
I took a seat on the comfy sofa I loved.
"So how's school going?" my mom asked as if she didn't already know.
I smiled to myself. "Pretty good"
"Good" she smiled. "And how… how are you feeling?" Her eyes lingered over the way I sat carefully in the chair, not slouching like I normal would to stop my stomach from hurting.
"Why do people keep asking that?!" I sighed. "It was five months ago"
My mom winced at the memory and came to sit beside me, ignoring the smell of burning chicken nuggets.
"I just worry about you" She stroked my hair gently.
"Well you need to stop" I suddenly felt the annoyance of the past five months bubbling up in my stomach as I got up from the sofa. "I was shot mom" I watched as her eyes filled with tears. "I was shot!" I repeated louder. "But life goes on, and you need to get over it!"
My mom pulled me back down onto the sofa and cupped her hands around my face. "It's not about that though for you is it?" she whispered. "You're disappointed in me for leaving you at Gallagher"
It wasn't a question. She knew.
"Maybe… maybe we both have things we need to get over" I whispered.
She nodded. "You'll never know how much I regret what I did to you, putting you in that place"
I looked at the sincerity in her eyes. "I know" I nodded.
I looked down at the floor. "I was thinking… the Circle… they have… more members don't they? Although Catherine's gone, the Circle will be back"
I could see a million lies forming in my mom's head to try to cover up the truth… but then she seemed to finally decide the truth was the best option.
"Yes" she breathed. "But we've upgraded security; they'll never get in here…"
"I can't stay in here forever!" I suddenly panicked at the thought. "One day…"
"One day we'll have to fight" my mom met my gaze. "But not today. When we're ready, when everyone's ready"
I nodded, knowing that was the only and best explanation I would get.
She hugged me, and this time she neither of us tensed up, for a moment we were back where we'd left off months ago, before anything like this had happened.
"Everything will be okay" My mom sobbed into my shoulder.
"Promise?" I asked.
My mom nodded. "Promise" she whispered.
The End.
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