Adopted by Janiel

Chapter Thirteen

"Hey, Cassie" Shane says sympathetically, looking up from preparing breakfast to look me in the eye. "How'd you sleep?"

"Not to great" I mumble under my breath. "I had a nightmare and ended up calling Joey at 3 a.m., and for some odd reason my jet lag decided to pop up and remind me I'm not in England anymore" I sigh and Shane purses his lips.

"I'm sorry, Cass...I know this is rough. I made breakfast. What do you like in your tea?" He asks and I respond with my preference, which Shane then accommodates.

He sets the glass and the biggest breakfast I've ever seen in front of me, before placing an exact copy next to it for him.

French Toast, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, Belgium waffles with strawberries and whipped cream, and a little slice of home...tea.

"Shane, I-" I begin to complain but he stops me.

"Nope, I eat like this every morning. Dig in!" There's a small pause of silence as we devour the deliciousness. "You don't want to go home, do you?" Shane randomly asks.

"Not particularly" I mumble, staring down at my lap and picking off my black nail polish.

"It's okay...you can stay here as long as you need" I nod, continuing to pick at my nails.

A few moments pass before I start eating again, then the silence continues.

"Can I ask you something? Like I just don't know who to go to. You have to promise it'll just stay between us" I let out and sigh.

"Of course, Cass...I promise I won't tell anyone" Shane says, turning to face me. I nod.

"Before I called you last night, I had to fix up Joey. Daniel hurt him pretty bad. He says he loves me; and he says that to Joey, too. I just don't know if he's gonna hurt me, too. I don't know...what do you think?"

"Well, Cass, I'm gonna be 100 precent honest right now. I know Daniel loves Joey, and Joey loves Daniel. You don't have to have a master's degree to know that. Whatever they were fighting about last night, I'm sure it'll blow over. Joey getting hurt like that, that was probably just Daniel's way of letting out all the hurt that Joey caused him, as stupid as that sounds. No, I don't think Daniel would ever hurt you. You're perfectly safe in that house, Cassie. Neither of those boys would ever hurt you. And you know if you need anything that I'm always here. You have my number" I nod, sighing before leaning over and hugging Shane.

He hesitantly wraps his arms around me, only completely after I whisper "You're okay".

"I'm done eating. Can I head back up?" I ask Shane after I finish my tea.

"Yeah, go ahead! I'll clean up down here!" I head up, seeing my phone blown up with texts from an unknown number.

Bitch

Attention Whore

Thanks for making them fucking miserable

Joey and Daniel had a perfect life

I read the texts, along with many, many others until I feel a panic attack creeping on.

Fantastic.

"S-Shane!" I cry out, voice broken by my tightening chest.

He's in the room within seconds, frantic as he rushes to my side.

"What? What's wrong?" Shane asks, panicked as he placed his hand on the bed beside me.

"Panic....attack" I gape.

"Okay, okay. Just relax. Deep breaths" Shane coaches but it's not working.

"Daniel" I let out. "Daniel....usually....help"

"You need to call him then. You need to calm down before you pass out" I shake my head and dial Joey instead.

"Hey, sweetie" He answers calmly and my breathing jaggeds.

"Panic attack" I manage to choke out without stopping.

"Alright, alright" Joey says, his mood quickly changing. "Have Shane put his hand on your stomach, just like we do. I take Shane's hand and place it there, gesturing to my phone, to which he nods.

"M'Kay" I barely manage.

"Okay, nice deep breaths...in and out, in and out. I'm sorry, I know I'm not as good as Daniel. You just gotta try for me" Joey coos and I nod, unable to speak, though he can't see me.

"Chest hurts" I whimper and Joey sighs.

"Water and painkillers once you're calm" He instructs.

Shane nods up at me successfully and removes his hand after a good half hour before I take my painkillers.

"If it makes you feel any better, we're back on good terms, Daniel and I...he feels awful he made you feel the way you did, and still do" Joey says.

"I'm coming home, please be there, the two of you so we can talk"

"Of course, Cass. See you soon"