The Nameless Boy

26: Safe at last...or are we?

A/N : okay so I know originally I thought of Darren as a young Johnny Depp, but it's changed to Cole Sprouse. Feel free to imagine him any way you like, but I feel like the photo above realllyyy captures his character. Thanks for reading and enjoy the chapter!

I woke up to the sound of silence. I looked oversee Darren, still in a deep sleep.

     I got up and poured myself a glass of water and gulped it down quickly. Finally home, I thought to myself.

     Well- I'm not technically home, but I'm practically in my own backyard. I didn't want to walk back to my house just yet, and I especially didn't want to have to deal with my parents, who are probably furious with me for leaving without notice.

     Not wanting to wake up Darren from his sleep, I walked around his cabin observing things I'd never noticed. There was a shelf stacked with books. They seemed pretty old. I pulled one out and flipped through the tattered pages. It was an original copy of The Great Gatsby. How could he even get his hands on this?

     I then walked to the tiny restroom and fixed up my hair in the mirror. The morning sun cast light piercing through the small window near the ceiling. I wanted to take a quick shower since I hadn't washed myself in anything but generic hotel room soap, and I didn't think he'd mind.

     The hot water ran down my back and soothed all my worried thoughts. There was so much to think about, and I decided it could all wait- at least for a little while. I giggled when I saw his soap was 100% organic. He must really care about his hair. This stuff ain't cheap.

     After I was finished I turned the water off and rung out my hair as much as I could before stepping out. I opened the cabinets and grabbed a towel, but there's was only one left. I needed another for my hair since its length and thickness prevents it from drying for at least two hours. It's truly a struggle. I wrapped the towel around my body and bent down to search for another under the sink. After moving some stuff around, I saw a book hidden in the back. Why would a book be under here? Then I realized he might like to read in here. Lots of people like to read in the rest room while they...you know. I grabbed the book to see what it was. It was heavy and the pages weren't paper. It's a photo album! I flipped open the first page to find photos of him as a kid. There was what seemed to be his parents behind him, huge smiles among their faces looking down at him.

     A rush of worry ran over me. I shouldn't be looking at this. Darren would hate this. My hands kept flipping pages though, I knew I should've put it away. But the curiosity was too strong. He was the cutest kid you'd ever seen. A smile crept upon my lips. His childhood seemed great. What went so wrong? How could his parents leave him just because of a mental disorder?
I skipped towards the end of the album to see how far into the timeline of his life it went.

     And there he was.

     Almost looking how he does today, but slightly younger.

     With a girl.

     They looked like freshman, possibly the end of middle school. She was kissing him on the cheek and he had his arm around her. This wasn't a family member- I'm sure of it. A past girlfriend? He's never talked about any other girl. A wave of jealously ran through me despite it being an old photo. I heard footsteps and threw the photo album back into the cabinet.

     "Arabella? Are you in there?" He asked while knocking on the door.

     "Yeah, I took a shower. I'll be out soon." I said pausing to look down at my clothes. "Hey, could I borrow some clothes?"

     "Sure. I'll leave them outside the door. Is a T shirt and shorts okay?"

     "Yeah, thanks!"