My brother went on a run later that same evening. I was playing with my kitty that I named Angel. She was so sweet and funny, I love her already. After a while, though, I got bored. I decided on taking a look around the apartment complex. I should be quick, though, before Daryl gets back. He will be pretty mad if I leave without asking him.

I went across the hall to the room right across from ours and went inside. It was almost identical to the room we had. The keys were on the end table. And that's when a thought came into my head. I could move over here! That way I won't be in Daryl's way and he won't have to worry about when Angel throws up on the floor.

Yeah, that's a great idea! I will tell him tonight when he gets back. I wonder how he'll feel about it, if he'll be okay with it? I guess we'll find out. I took one last look around and left closing the door behind me.

My brother was already there by the time I left. I didn't even hear him come in. "Where ya been?" He asked me immediately.

"Sorry, I was just next door." I said with a smile. "I didn't go nowhere."

"That's all right."

"I'm glad ya came in. I gotta talk to ya about somethin'." I said excitedly.

"Yeah, what's that?" He asked without looking up at me.

"That room next door, it looks just like ours. So, I was thankin' I could move in there." I stated. He slowly lifted his head and looked at me. "Well…me and Angel."

"Ya…ya wanna move out?"

I nervously tapped my fingers together. "…well, I just figured it will be easier that way. I mean…these rooms are small and it will give ya more space. And that way ya won't have to worry about my cat if she…has an accident." I finished. My brother just looked at me. "Is…that okay?"

Finally, he shrugged. "If that's what ya really want…then I guess that's fine."

"Okay." I smiled. "I'm gonna go get my stuff then." I turned to go in my bedroom.

"Wait a minute." My brother stopped me. "We need to talk. Sit down, kid." I gave him a nervous look. "It's all right. I gotta tell ya somethin'."

I sat down at the table while he stood there almost hovering over me. "Listen, I, uh…that day with the fire…I ain't sorry fer what I said to ya, but I'm sorry I yelled at ya like that." He said. I just kept my head down and bit my lip. "I lost my temper. I know I shouldn't 'a but I did. I just…don't want ya ever to be in danger and ya coulda got seriously hurt, ya know that, right?" I just nodded. "I'm glad yer okay and I'm sorry fer what happened." He paused. I didn't say anything. He was just looking at me, I didn't know if he was waiting for me to say something. "…well, I just wanted ya to know that." He finally finished.

"Okay." I nodded. "Is that it?" I finally looked up at him. He hesitated, almost as if he wanted to say something else, but instead just nodded. "I'm gonna go get my stuff then." I jumped up and went into my room.

As I was packing, I tried not to think too hard about what Daryl said. He ain't sorry. Maybe for losing his temper like he said, but he ain't actually sorry because this same thing will just happen another time, and then I'll get another fake apology. Well, I'm sick of it! He does this to me all the time. Maybe he'll finally get the picture and realize I'm done with his shit when I'm gone. Then, maybe he will lighten up. I doubt it, though.

Once I was finished packing, I slung my bag over my shoulder and picked up my cat then headed out into the living room. Daryl was sitting there on the couch. "Well, I'm leavin'." I said.

"Ya need help?"

"No, thanks. I'm good."

"Okay. Be careful." He said and was on his feet in a minute. I rolled my eyes. "Lemme know if ya need anythang or if somethin' happens come get me and I'll—

"Daryl, I'm right across the hall." I said. "I'll be fine."

He nodded slowly. "Right, sorry." He looked down at the ground. I almost felt bad. "Ya got any food?"

"There's a little over there."

"Here." He picked up two cans off the kitchen counter. "I want ya to have 'em."

"No, that's okay, Daryl. That's yer food."

"Take it." He said more forcefully.

I sighed and took them. "Thanks." He nodded then we both just kind of stood there. "Well…night." I said with a small smile.

"Night." He nodded. I quickly walked out the door and into MY house.

I put Angel down first then the rest of my stuff then locked the door. That was important. I sighed looking around then smiled. I got my own house. Suddenly, I remembered back when I ran away that time and stayed in the city. That was before the turn even happened. I remembered me jumping on the bed in the hotel room saying "I got my own house." I smiled. Well, now I really do.

I put my stuff away then decided to go to bed. It was getting kind of late. I laid down on my bed and it was one of the best feelings in the world. I fell asleep quickly and slept so good that night.

I pretty much stayed in my apartment most of the time. I didn't eat as much as my brother so I was pretty good on food still. But what wasn't good was the trash. My garbage was practically overflowing. I decided it was best to take it out now. I tied it up and dragged it out the door.

I walked around to the dumpster and threw the bag in. That's when I saw my brother out there, he was smoking a cigarette. "Hi." I said to him and smiled.

"Hey." He said. I turned to leave. "How are ya? Ya okay?" He said again.

"Yeah." I smiled. "Are you?" He just nodded. I stood there a minute and just looked at him. He looked thinner to me. "Well…night." I smiled again and waved.

"Yeah, night."

I went back up to my room. That was super weird. It was like we were strangers…

The first few days in my apartment were great, but then I started having nightmares. They became more frequent and soon I was having one every night. They got worse and worse each day, too. They began bothering me during the day, too. I just kept getting these weird feelings. I can't even explain them, it was almost as if I couldn't tell what was real and what was a dream. It's not as bad as it sounds. I just mean…I didn't feel like I was here. I couldn't tell my brother any of this, though, because he would just make me move back in with him and everything would just pick up where it left off. He would go back to treating my like a stupid, little kid. I can't have that.

And, so, I became depressed. I was eating less, taking care of myself less. I hardly slept at all; I was lucky if I got two hours of sleep each night. I know I sound stupid. I know I sound ridiculous, but…I just can't tell Daryl about this. I can't.

One particular night, I took my trash out and saw him again. Just like last time. "Hey." He said first.

"Hey." I said quietly. I walked right passed him and threw my garbage in the dumpster.

"Ya all right? Ya don't look too good."

I hesitated. I wanted to just tell him. Tell him how bad everything was and just move back in with him, but I didn't. "…yeah, just tired. Angel kept me up all night cuz she was hungry and ran outta food." I lied. "I'm gonna have to go on a run soon."

"Me too." Daryl said. "Maybe we can go together?"

I perked up a little. "Sure. I'd like that. Just let me know."

"All right." He nodded then threw his cigarette down. I turned to leave but felt the back of my shirt being pulled. Daryl grabbed me and hugged me tightly. I hugged him back. It felt so nice, I can't remember the last time we did that. We stayed like that for a while.

He finally let me go. "Sorry." He said.

"Don't apologize." I let out a small laugh.

He nodded. "Well…you should probably get to bed. Ya said ya ain't slept and 'sides, it's late."

"Yeah." I nodded. "Night, Daryl."

"Night, baby."

I felt so much better after finally talking to my brother. Maybe things will get better for me now and I'll actually be able to get some sleep. I approached my apartment and realized I must have left the door open. I walked inside and shut the door behind me.

I noticed Angel's bowl was empty so I poured her some food. She didn't come running like she always does. That's strange, she's usually starving and can't wait to eat. "Oh well." I shrugged. She's probably just sleeping somewhere.

I opened a can of peaches and dumped them into a bowl. Then, I sat down on the couch while eating them. My cat never came out. I suddenly had a thought and gasped. What if she ran out while the door was open. "Angel!" I got up and ran to my room. She wasn't in there. I checked all around the apartment. "Angel!" I couldn't find her and began to feel scared.

I checked all around the building, she wasn't anywhere. She couldn't have gotten in the other rooms because the doors were closed. She must have ran outside. I was breathing heavily and was really worried. I went back to my apartment and laid down on the couch trying to calm down.

"Okay." I told myself. She was an outside cat before so she'll probably come back. She knows where she lives. "Yeah." I told myself and nodded. I just decided to go to bed and see what happens in the morning. I left my bedroom door open so I would hear her if she was scratching at the front door.

I really hope she's okay and she comes back. I thought sadly.

It was now noon. I waited all morning to see if Angel would come back. She never did. I started to cry because I really liked her. Something could have happened to her out there. I needed comforting.

I got up and went next door. I knocked on the door and waited for my brother to answer it. He did seconds later. "Hey." He looked and sounded surprised.

"Can I come in?"

"Course." He stood aside. I walked in and sat on the couch. "What's 'a matter? Ya look like you been cryin'?"

"Angel ran away." I said with tears in my eyes.

"Aw, baby." He came over and sat next to me. "I'm sorry. Don't worry, she'll be back. She's an outside cat, she'll come back—

"She left last night." I stated. "I waited all mornin' fer 'er. She ain't comin' back." I cried. "I thank somethin' bad happened to 'er."

"Le." He rubbed my back. "Cats can be gone fer days 'fore they come back."

"I don't care." I shook my head. "I'm goin' to look fer 'er." I tried to stand up but he pulled me back down. "Lemme go!"

"No."

"Let go 'a me!"

"No!" He yelled this time. "Le, calm down. I'll help ya look fer 'er, but I need ya to calm down, okay?"

"Ya will?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "I'll help ya."

I took a few deep breaths. "Thanks." I said quietly.

"Mhm." He said. "Come'er." He hugged me. "Shh shh shh." He kissed my forehead. "It's gonna be okay. Ya okay now?" I nodded. "All right. Come on." We left the apartment to go look for Angel.

We checked all around the small town we were in and still no sign of my cat. I was getting extremely worried that something bad really did happen to her. "We're never gonna find 'er." I cried.

My brother sighed. "Le…she gotta be around here somewhere. Thangs just don't disappear."

"People do." I wiped at my tears.

"Hey." He stopped me. "What ya just say?"

"I said people do." I sniffled. "People disappear. Everyone we knew did." He gave me a sympathetic look and put his arm around me.

"It's gonna be okay. That's not gonna happen again, okay?" He tried to reassure me. "I won't let it."

Suddenly, we heard a noise up on the roof above us and looked up. A piece of the roof that was hanging there broke off and was falling right where we were standing. I froze. "Le! Move!" My brother yelled. He pushed me out of the way, I fell to the ground. I heard the metal hit the ground but also heard my brother yell in pain. When I looked, he had a huge gash on his side! He dropped to the ground on his knees.

"Oh my God, Daryl!" I jumped up. "Daryl, no!" I suddenly forgot about that damn cat.

"Ahh." He said in pain. "I'm okay."

"No, yer not!" I screamed. "It's bleedin' bad! We gotta get ya back to the apartment!" I helped him up as best as I could and we limped back to the apartment.

I helped him to the couch and he laid down. "Just stay there!" I ordered. "I'll take care 'a ya!" I ran to the kitchen and grabbed some bottles of water and all the towels I could find. "Here." I ran in there with a wet towel. He lifted his shirt so we could see the wound. "Yer losin' a lot 'a blood." I stated. I held the towel down on it to put pressure on the wound. Daryl made a noise. "Yer gonna be okay." I told him.

"Le." He said.

"Don't talk." I told him. All the towels were soaked with blood already. "I'll be right back." I ran to my apartment to get more towels. I was back in seconds. I held it on tightly. I just kept putting as mush pressure on it as I could.

"Okay." I finally said after what felt like forever. "The bleedin' stopped." I told my brother. "Do ya know where bandages are?" He didn't answer me. "Daryl?" I looked up at him. He was laying there with his eyes closed. "Daryl?" I said again. Still no answer. "Damn it, Daryl. Answer me!" I grew frantic and stood up. "Daryl?" I said with tears in my eyes. "Daryl, please." I put my head on his chest and checked for a heartbeat. There was. I exhaled in relief. Then, I put my hand under his nose to make sure he was still breathing, I felt light air on my hand and was able to relax. He's just unconscious.

I found the first aid kit and cleaned then bandaged my brother's side. "You should be good now." I told him even though he couldn't hear me. I pushed his hair back like he does to me when I'm sick. "Don't worry, Daryl. I'm gonna take care 'a ya." I leaned up and kissed his forehead. "Sleep now. Ya deserve a rest." I sat back down. I can't go to sleep or even leave his side until I know he's okay. "Night, big brother." I said picking up a book.

Hello everyone! Thanks for the favs and follows! Can y'all do me a HUGE favor? I would like at least three reviews before my next update! That would be fantastic! Thanks! Love you all! And hope you are enjoying this story!