Chapter Ten: I'd Trust You With My Life

Author's Note: Holy crap, right? I know. Okay, you need to know what happens next, so I'm going to shut up now. Love you all! Sorry this took so long! Thanks for the reviews! Enjoy!

Adam sat in a giant chair across the room from where Dahlia lay. Her fair skin looked even paler than usual. Her blonde ringlets had fallen over her face, and one single curl was dyed red with the blood from her lip.

Even though his heart literally hurt to see her like this, he couldn't look away. He couldn't believe that anyone could do something so horrible to someone so perfect. He wanted to speak to her, but, as usual, he couldn't find the words. He didn't even think the English language had a word for how horrible this was.

If he had just been there... if he hadn't left her a year ago, if he'd come with her today... he could have saved her.

When they'd found her at the TBC, her body sprawled across the steps, they'd immediately assumed the worst. Once they were able to move from their seats, Adam, Clare and Eli scrambled out of the car. Adam guessed he'd run to her, but he just remembered floating. He could not recall ever feeling that scared before. He almost fell on top of her, the sound of his heartbeat blocking his ears. He pushed her hair out of her face... and her eyelids fluttered open.

Relief was not nearly a strong enough word for how that felt.

"Okay, love, I'm going to help you sit up." Clare said, walking back into her living room balancing a full tray in one hand effortlessly. The tray held a glass of warm salt water, a wet washcloth, an ice pack, a bottle of water with a straw, and two Tylenol 3s.

Dahlia winced as she sat up, holding her ribcage and avoiding Adam's gaze.

Clare handed her the glass and told her to swish it around her mouth to clean the cuts on the inside of her lip. Dahlia did so, and spit it back into the cup with a shudder.

"That's disgusting." Dahlia said.

"Yes, but also very effective." Clare said, dabbing the cloth gently along Dahlia's lower lip. Once it was clean, Dahlia took the Tylenols and Clare held the icepack to Dahlia's lip and told her to keep it there for a while.

"It'll keep the swelling down." She said "Do you need anything else?"

Dahlia smiled a little and shook her head.

Eli chose this moment to storm into the room, fists clenched, shaking with anger. He looked from Dahlia to Clare, back to Dahlia, back to Clare; searching their faces for some kind of reflection of the anger he was obviously feeling.

"I'm sorry, babe, I know you told me to sit in the kitchen and be quiet, but are we honestly going to pretend like this isn't a big deal? Because it is. This is a huge deal! I need to go find Bridget, I... I swear to God... We need to like, call the cops or something. Bridget is a -"

"It doesn't matter what Bridget is. Dahlia doesn't want us to say anything, so we won't say anything." Clare said slowly, trying to calm Eli down.

"I... I agree with Eli..." Adam said.

The other three turned abruptly, as if they'd forgotten he was in the room. They probably had, he'd been silent since they'd found Dahlia on the steps. After they realised she was alive, he started breathing again, but he still couldn't move without difficulty.

"Things like this don't just go away if you ignore them. We should tell someone." Adam said to the room in general. Then, focusing his gaze on Dahlia, he said "Does your nana even know?"

Dahlia looked at the floor. "Of course not," she muttered from behind the ice pack.

There was a silence for a moment.

"But... if this happens all the time... and you live with your grandmother... doesn't she see your bruises and cuts?" Clare asked

Dahlia smiled her half-smile again, and shook her head. "Nana's blind."

Adam smiled to himself. Dahlia's nana was an amazing person. She was 5 feet tall and blind as a bat, but had the biggest personality of anyone he'd ever known. Adam had been with Dahlia when she came out to her Nana. He still remembered her reaction.
"Oh, D, honey, I don't care who you love, just as long as you have some love left for Nana."

"You really should tell her, Dahlia." Adam said. "She cares about you, she'll want to know."

"What good would it do? She can't do anything to help, she'll just worry, and feel bad. The last thing I need right now is for Nana to have a heart attack. She's all I have."

It would be an understatement to say that Adam was surprised to see Dahlia at school the next day. She was limping a bit, and people were staring at her still swollen lip, but she smiled at them like nothing was wrong. Like her world wasn't falling apart at the seams. Like she wasn't completely alone.

Adam realised that Dahlia was doing what he'd had to do for most of his life. He'd spent fourteen years pretending to be something he wasn't for the benefit of others. He'd pretended to be a girl; Dahlia was pretending to be okay.

He knew he couldn't just stand there and watch her crumble silently. He walked over to her.

"Dahlia... we need to talk."

Dahlia looked over her shoulder before smiling at Adam.

"Sure. When? Lunch?"

Even though her coral lips and perfect teeth were formed into a smile, her icy blue eyes looked incredibly sad. Adam wasn't sure anyone would be able to tell that but him. You'd have to know someone pretty well to see past their mask.

"Now, Dahlia." Adam sighed, taking Dahlia's hand and turning towards the Zen Garden.

Dahlia hesitated at first, and Adam turned around to see that her face finally matched her emotions. She sighed and followed him into the garden.

Adam sat on the bench, and Dahlia stood facing the wall. They were silent for a moment; each knowing exactly what they wanted to say, but neither having the slightest clue how to begin.

"Who do you think JT Yorke was?" Dahlia asked, staring intently at the JT Yorke Memorial plaque on the wall.

"He was a student here a few years ago. He was stabbed."

Dahlia turned around, her eyes drained of all traces of happiness.

"He was lucky..." She whispered

Adam stood up. He wasn't sure how he'd managed it, since no other cell in his body seemed to be working.

"...What?" he managed to say.

Dahlia shook her head and looked at the ground.

"Sometimes..." she whispered "Sometimes I wished... that she would just kill me and get it over with."

In an instant, Adam was back at the TBC, falling over Dahlia's limp, unconscious body, horrified and completely helpless.

He stared at her in shock for entirely too long.

"What did you want to talk about, Adam, I really need to get to class..."

Adam hesitated for a second before reaching into his backpack. He shuffled some things around a bit, looking for something. He pulled out a journal, bound with worn brown leather, that said "Adam Torres" on the cover.

"I keep this with me all the time. I started it the day I left Everdale. The... the day I left... you. It contains every thought I've ever had... about anything... I think you should read it."

He held the book out to Dahlia. She stared at it for a moment, then reached out and took it in both hands. She flipped the pages a bit, seeing tiny bits of Adam's scratchy penmanship at a time.

"You'd really trust me with this?" Dahlia asked

"I'd trust you with my life." Adam said, a little too quickly.

Dahlia nodded, and the bell rang for homeroom. She walked out the door without another word, and Adam watched as she took his entire soul with her.

She could easily use any of the information in that journal against him. It held his every secret, his every thought, every dream, every wish. Every part of Adam was inscribed in that journal, and she was now completely capable of destroying him bit by bit.

But he didn't care at all.

As long as she knew.