Born to Die

21

Alli
Sarah brought Dylan to a cell while Carl and I went back to mine. Now that everyone was back, we just had to wait for them to go to bed, then we can sneak out. I hope that Dylan ends up being a good addition to the group, so far we've had good luck with that sort of thing. I laid on the bottom bunk with Carl, my head was nuzzled into his chest, it felt so safe and comfortable, I never wanted to move.

"Wanna go back to our game?" Carl whispered and I nodded, letting out a slight laugh. Lately, we'd just been telling each other a bunch of stories and passing it off as a game. "Your turn" he said and I thought for a moment "Okay, so one time my music teacher thought it'd be a good idea to make me sing a song for the Christmas tree lighting in my city. Basically, I was singing Silver Bells and my class was pushing each other off of the risers behind me. Someone fell on me, I fell off the stage and pretty much went crowd surfing at a tree lighting" I explained my somewhat boring story and he laughed.

"That would only happen to you" I felt him playing with my hair as he spoke. I grinned and sat up "I'm gonna check if everyone's asleep" I told him and he nodded as I got out of the bed. I peeked my head through the curtain to look around the cell block, it seemed empty. It was completely silent, hopefully they won't wake up when Carl and I leave.

I turned back to Carl and grinned "block's empty" I said and he got out of the bed, following behind me as I ran silently to the courtyard. I let out a breath as we got outside, I always felt scared to breathe when we were sneaking out, I guess I just thought it'd be too loud. I didn't even have to think about it, I basically just hold my breath and don't even realize until we get over the fences.

Carl started climbing the fence first, I was close behind him. My leg still hurt a little bit, but it just felt like a bruise now, so I pushed through as I climbed over. I could see my breath as we walked through the woods, it gets so cold at night. I followed Carl as we climbed the last fence to get to the house, immediately going inside.

"I'll get a fire going" I said, walking over to the fireplace and grabbing some of the kindling from the basket beside it. "I think there's some matches in the kitchen" Carl told me, but I shook my head "no it's fine there's a lighter over here, we just need to get some more wood from outside" I felt goosebumps crawl up my arms as I lit the fire.

"I'll get some wood then, be right back" Carl grabbed a flashlight and walked back outside. I laid on the floor in front of the fire, warming myself up, I'm so annoying honestly. I complain about the heat in the summer, and then complain about the cold in the winter. I prefer cold, but I start getting annoyed when it stops snowing.

I heard the door close, then Carl walked over to the fireplace, putting some of the wood inside. "Why are you laying on the floor?" He laughed and I grinned, sitting up "its warm here". He chuckled and sat next to me, so I leaned on his shoulder "you're warm too holy shit" I laughed, wrapping my arms around him and cuddling close to him, making him laugh.

"I'm bored" I said and Carl laughed again "we haven't even been here for five minutes" he told me and I shrugged "I mean I wanna play piano, but it's warm right here" I thought out loud and he held me close against him "just stay here for a few more minutes" he whispered in my ear and I grinned, basically sitting in his lap. It's funny to think that a few months ago, I never thought I'd even smile again, but part of myself told me not to get used to it.

"Do you think we missed Christmas?" I asked Carl and he shrugged "not sure, if we did it couldn't have been that long ago. It's too cold to be past January" he said. He knows the weather here better than me, it was a little different in South Carolina, and I didn't even pay attention to weather while I was alone. "Is it okay if I bum you out for a few minutes?" I glanced at Carl and he nodded "Yeah". I sighed and stared into the fireplace "for the longest time I never felt that close to my family, since my mom was the only one biologically related to me. My stepdad and stepsister were nice and all, but I just felt like I didn't belong" I explained and he stayed silent, listening to me.

"It felt like Christmas was the only time we were a real family. They were pretty basic for most years, but I remember when I was 10, my stepsister came into my room at 2am on Christmas morning" I began to smile at the thought of Brooklyn, I didn't think about her much anymore. "She woke me up and said we were gonna see what we got, but we had to be quiet so our parents wouldn't hear. I remember asking her why, and all she said was 'we're sisters, that's the kind of thing you do together'. It was really the first time that she made me feel like we were family" I told Carl, seeing a slight smile appear on his face.

I looked back to the fire "Christmas had become my favorite holiday, because it's when we went from being stepsisters to sisters. So this time of year just bums me out now, since Brooklyn's gone. I mean this is probably the third Christmas without her, and I didn't even notice for the first two" I sighed, finishing my story. Carl rubbed my back "I know what you mean, you're just so distracted that you don't even think about what you're missing, then when you finally get a chance to relax, you just get sad" he said and I nodded, leaning into him.

"I know it's nothing compared to your old Christmases, but at least we've got each other for the ones to come" he tried to lighten the mood and I grinned "it's not nothing, just very different" I stated and he nodded "agreed". I glanced at the piano "let's just have Christmas now, we've got a fire, I've got you, I can play some songs" I suggested and he chuckled "sounds perfect".

I stood up and walked to the piano, sitting on the cold wooden bench, and positioning my hands onto the keys. I closed my eyes, letting my fingers play the first song that came to mind. The tune of Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas began to fill the room, and I sang along, just happy to be back at the house, but even happier about the person I was here with.

lol I know it's been awhile but this is basically a holiday happy chapter just to bridge a few gaps (I apologize for the very confusing chapters aged if this, they aren't edited still😂) but yeah enjoy this fluff