p dir="ltr" /p
p dir="ltr"Midnight releases a strongsad /strongsigh. She allows her gaze to flit shut on the white sofa underneath her. Her entire body is sore with pain. Her mind so happens to be frazzled while her nerves were a wreck. She felt like curling up into a ball to release her sobs into something./p
p dir="ltr"Did the pain ever truly go away? Everybody was getting strongready /strongfor bed while Midnight kept to herself. She strongsaid /strongnothing all day on Sunday, remaining invisible to the Douglas family. She didn't strongbelong/strong. Every step she took was a mistake./p
p dir="ltr"Her suspicions were strongproven /strongto be truth every time Rocky got the opportunity to jab an insult her way. She didn't know how strongmuch/strong she could withstand without giving up./p
p dir="ltr""emNight/em, you should..." Baby strides to the door of the living room, trailing off at the silent tears falling down Midnight's face. strongHad /strongthe other girl strongrealized /strongher face becoming wet?/p
p dir="ltr"Midnight strongjumps, /strongplaying with the hem of her jacket. She wipes a way stray tears, forcing a false smile onto her face. "Yeah, I'm on my way."/p
p dir="ltr"Baby walks over, softly placing folded clothes on Midnight's lap. She crosses her arms, rubbing the goosebumps running along her arms. She emkept /emmanaging to steal one of Colt's blue tee shirts to sleep in. A smirk graced her features at how Colt let her sleep in his bed while he slept in a sleeping bag on the floor strongbeside /strongTum Tum's bunk bed. "Night, if something is bothering you-"/p
p dir="ltr""Flame, I'm cool. What is this?" Midnight asks, crinkling her nose up at the clothes on her lap./p
p dir="ltr""Oh, it's the grey-green striped hoodie with green sweatpants Rocky grew out of. You can change into them for a more comfortable night's sleep." Baby beams, snickering at how Rocky got her to do his dirty work for her./p
p dir="ltr"Midnight grimaces, "I'll be up in a few."/p
p dir="ltr""You best or I'm strongsending /strongRocky for you." Baby wriggles her eyebrows, grinning at Midnight./p
p dir="ltr"Sighing, Midnight watches the redhead go. The Saturday evening hadn't been so bad, considering Barbie and Sasha got to join them for dinner. Her mood had been lifted by the welcome distraction. She was ready to curl up on the couch sofa, instead of being surrounded by other people. She liked the strongDouglas /strongfamily household more than she yearned to admit, but sometimes; she needed to be alone./p
p dir="ltr"It's how she could create in peaceful solace. She felt emdrained /emas if nothing was going right. Reluctantly, removing her body from the sofa; she goes to the bathroom to hesitantly change. In the process her mind snaps to her step-parents. What was really taking them so long that they couldn't check in on Midnight? strongHad /strongthey long forgotten her existence?/p
p dir="ltr"Her mind flipped to every worst thought imaginable. Her strongdepression /strongdeepened, causing her to gaze down at the grey-green striped hoodie while in front of the mirror. A sad sigh escapes her caramel pink lips, strongbriefly /strongeyeing her half white, half black dyed hair. Her ringlets were groomed into soft waves on each side. Did her step-father strongdecide /strongto abandon her for some drug trade business or did he simply discard her?/p
p dir="ltr"Midnight allows her palms to touch the cool of the sink to steady her breathing. She strongtries /strongto force away dark probabilities./p
p dir="ltr""It's not that badem!/em" Midnight hisses to herself, glaring at the image reflected in the mirror. She has to force off the negative backlash. How could she afford to bring their moods down? She couldn't nor would she./p
p dir="ltr""Night, strongare /strongyou alright in there?" The voice of Rocky came from the other side of the bathroom door. He gave a light knock./p
p dir="ltr"Midnight grew anxious, fiddling with her fingers. Her eyes snapped to the door. Should she even try to fake it longer than she already is? It's not like she was best friends with the blonde who didn't get her at all. "Yeah!"/p
p dir="ltr""Baby was strongworried/strong about you!" Rocky calls, sighing as he remained on the other side of the door./p
p dir="ltr"Midnight scowls, shaking her head. She needs to be in her own space in order for her happiness to return to her. Swinging open the door, the blonde boy happens to drop to the floor. She was formulating a plan in the back of her mind as her eyes didn't bother to meet his. Storming past him, she went to the bedroom where they were all cooped up in strongduring /strongthe night./p
p dir="ltr"She had been emgifted the /emdecision of using Rocky's bed to sleep while he took the floor beside the bed in a sleeping bag. She didn't like embeing /emso close to somebody she was already citing as narcissistic- the more he went about his behavior strongtowards/strong her. She angrily climbs into the bed, turning on her left while pulling the covers up over her head./p
p dir="ltr"Baby shoots Colt a quizzical look. The two were sat on the top bunk bed, whispering to one another about a prank to pull on Emily. Nothing too harmful, but enough to get her to go her own way. They didn't know of the truth Midnight had grown to learn in psychical connection via the blonde girl./p
p dir="ltr"Rocky appears, jogging in the doorway. His green blue eyes immediately land on the snug form of Midnight under the covers, causing him to narrow them at her. He kicked around why things stronghad /strongto be so complicated with her./p
p dir="ltr"Maybe, because of the age strongdifference/strong. Grimacing, he climbed into the sleeping bag on the floor as Colt copies his actions./p
p dir="ltr"All the lights were turned off./p
p dir="ltr"Midnight is emplanning /emto sneak out of the house. She can't be here a moment longer. She needs the comfort of her home, her safe haven in the world, her peace of mind. A emmillion /emthoughts were running through her mind while soft snores came strongdirectly /strongfrom the others. emThey claim to be ninjas? /em/p
p dir="ltr"emHow do they sleep through snoring? /emMidnight wonders, quietly in her head. Rolling her eyes, she softly turns onto her back. She allows her gaze to flit around the dark bedroom, making sure every single one is asleep. She forgets Rocky for a minute, peering over the bed at the blonde boy emseemingly /emasleep./p
p dir="ltr"Her heart skips a beat. She is quiet as a mouse, manveruing silently from the bed. She is a ballerina at heart after all. She lands an inch, swiftly, softly from the sleeping form of the beautiful blonde boy she would never get to call emhers/em. Standing straight, she chances a glimpse to make sure none had awoken./p
p dir="ltr"Thankfully, she was able to slip from the bedroom emlightly /emsneaking to the downstairs. She was on her way to a homerun. emVoices/emem, whispering /emin the kitchen catch her attention. To eavesdrop or not to eavesdrop? Lifting an eyebrow, she quickly assumed the strongparents /strongof the Douglas boys grew tired of seeing her ugly face, allowing her better judgement to press her into the shadows of the wall to hear what they were saying./p
p dir="ltr""emSam, /emhow are we supposed to tell strongthem/strong?" Jessica asks her husband. Her eyes were glossy. Her tone is frantic./p
p dir="ltr"Midnight grows strongworried/strongstrong, /strongstrongready/strong to bound into the kitchen with the odd sense of wanting to comfort the woman./p
p dir="ltr""You rip off the bandaid. Look, emhoney, we will tell /emthem tomorrow. It's going to be stronghard /strongfor them to hear. I know how close they were." Sam says, gently gripping his wife. He pulls her in close, sparking a bubble of life in Midnight./p
p dir="ltr"Why strongdid /strongcertain couples always have to make her feel hopelessly romantic inside? She shivers, making a face of disgust by the thought. She gives up trying to guess what the parents were needing to address with their sons, but it couldn't be good./p
p dir="ltr"Not with the look of strongdespair /strongplacating Jessica./p
p dir="ltr"Midnight emstill /emhas the urge to comfort them. She remains in the shadows, watching the man gently tug his wife up the stairs. Frowning, she's sure the mother will check up on them. She got used to the woman peeping her head in every night./p
p dir="ltr""Where emwere /emyou sneaking off to?" Rocky asks, startling Midnight who was softly biting her bottom lip./p
p dir="ltr""I thought you were sound asleep." Midnight proclaims, glaring hateful daggers into him./p
p dir="ltr""The slightest of strongmovements wakes /strongme up. I'm not a heavy sleeper like my brothers." Rocky informs her going into the kitchen for a glass of water. He returns awaiting her answer while crossing his arms./p
p dir="ltr"Midnight is doubtful he is speaking the truth. She gestures to the ground, "Don't pretend like you're bothered by the fact that I'm leaving."/p
p dir="ltr""You're step-parents aren't back." Rocky chides, causing her to take a step from the shadows./p
p dir="ltr""I'm emrunning/em away." Midnight confidently informs the blonde. She takes quick strides to the front door, no sooner blocked by the view of the green ninja. She never strongheld /strongthe urge to slap somebody until then and there./p
p dir="ltr""You strongare /strongnot." Rocky spoke through gritted teeth. He could sense what gears were turning strongbehind /strongher head. Yet, he wasn't about to let her get herself killed./p
p dir="ltr"Midnight then recalls there's a second door to her freedom. She starts for the kitchen area. "Watch me."/p
p dir="ltr"Rocky cuts her off, blocking her view to the kitchen. "What would your step-parents think?"/p
p dir="ltr"Midnight was stumped. Would they even care? A flicker of sadness in her eyes had her not bothering to argue with the blonde. She'd have to escape when school let out./p
p dir="ltr"Rocky saw the emconflict /emin her eyes. He did the one thing he hadn't upon strongmeeting/strong the girl. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze./p
p dir="ltr""At this point, I emwouldn't /emknow. It's like I'm the Lost Boy no one is recalling these days." Midnight gloomily replies, feeling herself starting to unravel./p
p dir="ltr""You're not easy to forget, Midnight. I'm strongsure /strongthey're worried fo your sake-" Rocky softly speaks, moving closer to the girl. His hand remained on her shoulder for support./p
p dir="ltr""Oh, are you sure? They haven't made the time to call. Claudia takes up all of Sam's time so I'm forgotten when they're in the same room. You strongdon't /stronghave that problem!" Midnight briefly, sniffles trying to force down all the weak emotions./p
p dir="ltr"It's like she couldn't stop emherself /emfrom being open with him. Nor did she care. She was angry, bitter, hurting and held a bloodlust that night. Her normality was losing it's timeless button./p
p dir="ltr""Weren't they strongadoptin/strongg a son on their honeymoon? So, it's got to be difficult for them to make contact." Rocky tries, wanting to wrap her into a warm hug./p
p dir="ltr"Midnight quickly withdraws from his kindness. She shrugs off his grip, turning a glare on him./p
p dir="ltr""Who are you to lecture me on what's difficult and what's not?" Midnight seethes, starting for the stairs./p
p dir="ltr""Night, I just-" Rocky follows suit, tugging the sleeve of the hoodie while stopping her at the bottom of the steps./p
p dir="ltr"Midnight shoots him a glare over her shoulder, shutting him up./p
p dir="ltr""Oh, so what? Are you trying to be my father, now? Should I call you daddy?" Midnight angrily hisses to him./p
p dir="ltr"Rocky frowns, strongreleasing/strong his grip on the girl./p
p dir="ltr"Clearly, Midnight strongdid not /strongwant cheering up./p
p dir="ltr""Midnight, I was trying to be your friend." Rocky reveals in a soft undertone./p
p dir="ltr"Midnight sarcastically, softly laughs at that./p
p dir="ltr""Oh, but I'm the liar stronghiding/strong something? Boy, you best make up your mind on whether you're my friend or enemy. One day, it's let's be friends while the next it's your threatening my girlfriend. I am in no mood for lunchbox friends, Rocky." Midnight continues her angry rant, returning to the bed she didn't want to sleep in./p
p dir="ltr"Rocky stood with his mouth agape. He knew she had a point. He decided to take the advice of Baby, and back down. He grew sad inside, trudging up to bed./p
p dir="ltr" /p
p dir="ltr"Midnight releases a strongsad /strongsigh. She allows her gaze to flit shut on the white sofa underneath her. Her entire body is sore with pain. Her mind so happens to be frazzled while her nerves were a wreck. She felt like curling up into a ball to release her sobs into something./p
p dir="ltr"Did the pain ever truly go away? Everybody was getting strongready /strongfor bed while Midnight kept to herself. She strongsaid /strongnothing all day on Sunday, remaining invisible to the Douglas family. She didn't strongbelong/strong. Every step she took was a mistake./p
p dir="ltr"Her suspicions were strongproven /strongto be truth every time Rocky got the opportunity to jab an insult her way. She didn't know how strongmuch/strong she could withstand without giving up./p
p dir="ltr""emNight/em, you should..." Baby strides to the door of the living room, trailing off at the silent tears falling down Midnight's face. strongHad /strongthe other girl strongrealized /strongher face becoming wet?/p
p dir="ltr"Midnight strongjumps, /strongplaying with the hem of her jacket. She wipes a way stray tears, forcing a false smile onto her face. "Yeah, I'm on my way."/p
p dir="ltr"Baby walks over, softly placing folded clothes on Midnight's lap. She crosses her arms, rubbing the goosebumps running along her arms. She emkept /emmanaging to steal one of Colt's blue tee shirts to sleep in. A smirk graced her features at how Colt let her sleep in his bed while he slept in a sleeping bag on the floor strongbeside /strongTum Tum's bunk bed. "Night, if something is bothering you-"/p
p dir="ltr""Flame, I'm cool. What is this?" Midnight asks, crinkling her nose up at the clothes on her lap./p
p dir="ltr""Oh, it's the grey-green striped hoodie with green sweatpants Rocky grew out of. You can change into them for a more comfortable night's sleep." Baby beams, snickering at how Rocky got her to do his dirty work for her./p
p dir="ltr"Midnight grimaces, "I'll be up in a few."/p
p dir="ltr""You best or I'm strongsending /strongRocky for you." Baby wriggles her eyebrows, grinning at Midnight./p
p dir="ltr"Sighing, Midnight watches the redhead go. The Saturday evening hadn't been so bad, considering Barbie and Sasha got to join them for dinner. Her mood had been lifted by the welcome distraction. She was ready to curl up on the couch sofa, instead of being surrounded by other people. She liked the strongDouglas /strongfamily household more than she yearned to admit, but sometimes; she needed to be alone./p
p dir="ltr"It's how she could create in peaceful solace. She felt emdrained /emas if nothing was going right. Reluctantly, removing her body from the sofa; she goes to the bathroom to hesitantly change. In the process her mind snaps to her step-parents. What was really taking them so long that they couldn't check in on Midnight? strongHad /strongthey long forgotten her existence?/p
p dir="ltr"Her mind flipped to every worst thought imaginable. Her strongdepression /strongdeepened, causing her to gaze down at the grey-green striped hoodie while in front of the mirror. A sad sigh escapes her caramel pink lips, strongbriefly /strongeyeing her half white, half black dyed hair. Her ringlets were groomed into soft waves on each side. Did her step-father strongdecide /strongto abandon her for some drug trade business or did he simply discard her?/p
p dir="ltr"Midnight allows her palms to touch the cool of the sink to steady her breathing. She strongtries /strongto force away dark probabilities./p
p dir="ltr""It's not that badem!/em" Midnight hisses to herself, glaring at the image reflected in the mirror. She has to force off the negative backlash. How could she afford to bring their moods down? She couldn't nor would she./p
p dir="ltr""Night, strongare /strongyou alright in there?" The voice of Rocky came from the other side of the bathroom door. He gave a light knock./p
p dir="ltr"Midnight grew anxious, fiddling with her fingers. Her eyes snapped to the door. Should she even try to fake it longer than she already is? It's not like she was best friends with the blonde who didn't get her at all. "Yeah!"/p
p dir="ltr""Baby was strongworried/strong about you!" Rocky calls, sighing as he remained on the other side of the door./p
p dir="ltr"Midnight scowls, shaking her head. She needs to be in her own space in order for her happiness to return to her. Swinging open the door, the blonde boy happens to drop to the floor. She was formulating a plan in the back of her mind as her eyes didn't bother to meet his. Storming past him, she went to the bedroom where they were all cooped up in strongduring /strongthe night./p
p dir="ltr"She had been emgifted the /emdecision of using Rocky's bed to sleep while he took the floor beside the bed in a sleeping bag. She didn't like embeing /emso close to somebody she was already citing as narcissistic- the more he went about his behavior strongtowards/strong her. She angrily climbs into the bed, turning on her left while pulling the covers up over her head./p
p dir="ltr"Baby shoots Colt a quizzical look. The two were sat on the top bunk bed, whispering to one another about a prank to pull on Emily. Nothing too harmful, but enough to get her to go her own way. They didn't know of the truth Midnight had grown to learn in psychical connection via the blonde girl./p
p dir="ltr"Rocky appears, jogging in the doorway. His green blue eyes immediately land on the snug form of Midnight under the covers, causing him to narrow them at her. He kicked around why things stronghad /strongto be so complicated with her./p
p dir="ltr"Maybe, because of the age strongdifference/strong. Grimacing, he climbed into the sleeping bag on the floor as Colt copies his actions./p
p dir="ltr"All the lights were turned off./p
p dir="ltr"Midnight is emplanning /emto sneak out of the house. She can't be here a moment longer. She needs the comfort of her home, her safe haven in the world, her peace of mind. A emmillion /emthoughts were running through her mind while soft snores came strongdirectly /strongfrom the others. emThey claim to be ninjas? /em/p
p dir="ltr"emHow do they sleep through snoring? /emMidnight wonders, quietly in her head. Rolling her eyes, she softly turns onto her back. She allows her gaze to flit around the dark bedroom, making sure every single one is asleep. She forgets Rocky for a minute, peering over the bed at the blonde boy emseemingly /emasleep./p
p dir="ltr"Her heart skips a beat. She is quiet as a mouse, manveruing silently from the bed. She is a ballerina at heart after all. She lands an inch, swiftly, softly from the sleeping form of the beautiful blonde boy she would never get to call emhers/em. Standing straight, she chances a glimpse to make sure none had awoken./p
p dir="ltr"Thankfully, she was able to slip from the bedroom emlightly /emsneaking to the downstairs. She was on her way to a homerun. emVoices/emem, whispering /emin the kitchen catch her attention. To eavesdrop or not to eavesdrop? Lifting an eyebrow, she quickly assumed the strongparents /strongof the Douglas boys grew tired of seeing her ugly face, allowing her better judgement to press her into the shadows of the wall to hear what they were saying./p
p dir="ltr""emSam, /emhow are we supposed to tell strongthem/strong?" Jessica asks her husband. Her eyes were glossy. Her tone is frantic./p
p dir="ltr"Midnight grows strongworried/strongstrong, /strongstrongready/strong to bound into the kitchen with the odd sense of wanting to comfort the woman./p
p dir="ltr""You rip off the bandaid. Look, emhoney, we will tell /emthem tomorrow. It's going to be stronghard /strongfor them to hear. I know how close they were." Sam says, gently gripping his wife. He pulls her in close, sparking a bubble of life in Midnight./p
p dir="ltr"Why strongdid /strongcertain couples always have to make her feel hopelessly romantic inside? She shivers, making a face of disgust by the thought. She gives up trying to guess what the parents were needing to address with their sons, but it couldn't be good./p
p dir="ltr"Not with the look of strongdespair /strongplacating Jessica./p
p dir="ltr"Midnight emstill /emhas the urge to comfort them. She remains in the shadows, watching the man gently tug his wife up the stairs. Frowning, she's sure the mother will check up on them. She got used to the woman peeping her head in every night./p
p dir="ltr""Where emwere /emyou sneaking off to?" Rocky asks, startling Midnight who was softly biting her bottom lip./p
p dir="ltr""I thought you were sound asleep." Midnight proclaims, glaring hateful daggers into him./p
p dir="ltr""The slightest of strongmovements wakes /strongme up. I'm not a heavy sleeper like my brothers." Rocky informs her going into the kitchen for a glass of water. He returns awaiting her answer while crossing his arms./p
p dir="ltr"Midnight is doubtful he is speaking the truth. She gestures to the ground, "Don't pretend like you're bothered by the fact that I'm leaving."/p
p dir="ltr""You're step-parents aren't back." Rocky chides, causing her to take a step from the shadows./p
p dir="ltr""I'm emrunning/em away." Midnight confidently informs the blonde. She takes quick strides to the front door, no sooner blocked by the view of the green ninja. She never strongheld /strongthe urge to slap somebody until then and there./p
p dir="ltr""You strongare /strongnot." Rocky spoke through gritted teeth. He could sense what gears were turning strongbehind /strongher head. Yet, he wasn't about to let her get herself killed./p
p dir="ltr"Midnight then recalls there's a second door to her freedom. She starts for the kitchen area. "Watch me."/p
p dir="ltr"Rocky cuts her off, blocking her view to the kitchen. "What would your step-parents think?"/p
p dir="ltr"Midnight was stumped. Would they even care? A flicker of sadness in her eyes had her not bothering to argue with the blonde. She'd have to escape when school let out./p
p dir="ltr"Rocky saw the emconflict /emin her eyes. He did the one thing he hadn't upon strongmeeting/strong the girl. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze./p
p dir="ltr""At this point, I emwouldn't /emknow. It's like I'm the Lost Boy no one is recalling these days." Midnight gloomily replies, feeling herself starting to unravel./p
p dir="ltr""You're not easy to forget, Midnight. I'm strongsure /strongthey're worried fo your sake-" Rocky softly speaks, moving closer to the girl. His hand remained on her shoulder for support./p
p dir="ltr""Oh, are you sure? They haven't made the time to call. Claudia takes up all of Sam's time so I'm forgotten when they're in the same room. You strongdon't /stronghave that problem!" Midnight briefly, sniffles trying to force down all the weak emotions./p
p dir="ltr"It's like she couldn't stop emherself /emfrom being open with him. Nor did she care. She was angry, bitter, hurting and held a bloodlust that night. Her normality was losing it's timeless button./p
p dir="ltr""Weren't they strongadoptin/strongg a son on their honeymoon? So, it's got to be difficult for them to make contact." Rocky tries, wanting to wrap her into a warm hug./p
p dir="ltr"Midnight quickly withdraws from his kindness. She shrugs off his grip, turning a glare on him./p
p dir="ltr""Who are you to lecture me on what's difficult and what's not?" Midnight seethes, starting for the stairs./p
p dir="ltr""Night, I just-" Rocky follows suit, tugging the sleeve of the hoodie while stopping her at the bottom of the steps./p
p dir="ltr"Midnight shoots him a glare over her shoulder, shutting him up./p
p dir="ltr""Oh, so what? Are you trying to be my father, now? Should I call you daddy?" Midnight angrily hisses to him./p
p dir="ltr"Rocky frowns, strongreleasing/strong his grip on the girl./p
p dir="ltr"Clearly, Midnight strongdid not /strongwant cheering up./p
p dir="ltr""Midnight, I was trying to be your friend." Rocky reveals in a soft undertone./p
p dir="ltr"Midnight sarcastically, softly laughs at that./p
p dir="ltr""Oh, but I'm the liar stronghiding/strong something? Boy, you best make up your mind on whether you're my friend or enemy. One day, it's let's be friends while the next it's your threatening my girlfriend. I am in no mood for lunchbox friends, Rocky." Midnight continues her angry rant, returning to the bed she didn't want to sleep in./p
p dir="ltr"Rocky stood with his mouth agape. He knew she had a point. He decided to take the advice of Baby, and back down. He grew sad inside, trudging up to bed./p
p dir="ltr" /p