Light in the Dark

Eleven

It was nice to be cared for for once.

He didn't run for the hills when he had seen my body.

I told him about Jacobs, it was nice to talk about it with someone.

I had opened my eyes and I was still snuggly wrapped in his arms, I wished that I could stay like this forever. I tried to get out of his hold but even in his sleep he was strong.

"You keep moving like that and you're going to make little Mike even more excited." He grumbled. I instantly stopped my movements out of sheer embarrassment when I realized exactly what he meant. "Morning sweetheart." He kissed the back of my neck.

He's making it so hard not to fall for him

"Morning."

Would he ignore everything that happened last night?

Maybe he only said those things to be nice.

"Go back to sleep, I can feel you thinking." He mumbled.

I rolled over to face him and he opened his eyes. I could get lost in his eyes. "I can't help it, only one person knows about Jacobs and that's his wife."

"It's not good to shoulder such a large burden on your own. I can't imagine what you went through but I mean it Connie, you have me now and I promise that no matter what, you can tell me anything."

"I know, it's just been a long time since I've been able to trust someone else."

"It's me and you against the world sweetheart."

He really is my shining light in the dark

***

The Trevors were such a great family and they welcomed me like I was one of their own, it was lovely. I had been spending a lot of time over there as of late and I couldn't help but think that maybe I was setting myself up. Once this whole thing was over and they realized that were were deceiving them then they probably wouldn't want me around anymore.

"So Thanksgiving is coming up soon, would you like to join us?" Diana asked. Her eyes filled with hope. She reminded me so much of my mother.

"Mom, she's probably going to spend it with her family." Evan said which made me drop my fork.

I cleared my throat and glanced up and down between my plate and her. "If you don't mind, that'd be wonderful. I uh, all my family is in Puerto Rico and we don't talk much these days."

I was trying to work on opening up to people, I figured that his family was a good place to start.

"Wonderful! We'll make plans and maybe you can help Melanie and I cook and set up?"

"I'd really like that." Michael smiled at me.

After breakfast we all went our separate ways. I went to the bathroom to shower and while I was washing my hair, I heard the door open and close.

I poked my head from behind the curtain, careful not to show anything, to see Michael. "Um what are you doing?"

"I need to pee and you were taking too long." He started to unzip his pants and I quickly went back to showering.

"You ever heard of person space Trevors?"

"We're dating sweetheart, there's no such thing."

***

"So whatever I do to one side I have to do to the other?" Sam asked. We were doing more math homework. Michael had went to the store with Evan to get last minute groceries for their mom.

"Yes."

"Can I ask you something?" She asked as we moved on to the next problem. I nodded. "How do you know when you love someone?"

"Everyone is different but I always want to be around Michael. Everything he does makes me happy and he just gets me in a way that no one else does. I want to be the person he can depend on when he's upset and the person who he talks to about his day."

Holy shit, I'm in love with Michael

"Why? Do you love someone?"

"I think so, maybe not as intense but it's definitely more than a crush."

"Tell me about him or her." I don't judge, she was free to like whichever gender she wanted.

"His name is Emmett, he's a senior and the quarterback of the varsity football team." She gushed.

"I'm gonna give you some advice okay?" She nodded. "Don't always be fooled by how someone is on the outside. Yes he's popular and probably good looking but don't let him use that to his advantage. No means no."

"I wanted to give him my virginity."

Ohmygodddddddd!

"Listen, I'm not going to tell you what to do, it's your body and your choice to do with it what you want just be safe and make sure it's what you want to do. Matter of fact, since I know teenage boys well, I'll buy you some condoms so that they can't pull the 'I forgot condoms, we can do it bare' idea." She hugged me.

"I'm glad you're here."

I snort laughed. "Why? Cuz I'm buying you condoms?" I joked.

"No because you actually listen to me."

"Sex is a big deal and a huge responsibility so I'm not going to treat you like a kid. You're 16, I want you to know that there are good and bad outcomes to having sex so please think about it first before you do it?"

"I'm glad you're my sister now. Melanie is nice but she is like the other adults and treats me like a kid."

"I'm glad I am too."

And I was. We may have started off on the wrong foot but now we were really close. Sam and I texted almost all the time whether it was about school or boys or whatever she wanted to talk about. Michael said that she talked about me a lot in the house too and that made me smile.

***

After dinner I offered to help Diana clean the kitchen while everyone else went to bed.

"You know, I'm really glad that you're apart of this family now." She said out of the blue. "I haven't seen Michael this happy in years and Sam looks up to you like an older sister."

I cried at her statement, but not for the reasons that she's thinks. She would hate me if Michael and I's secret got out. We finished with small talk before she told me good night and we went our separate ways. I walked into the guest room to find Michael in my bed on his phone.

"Sweetheart, what's wrong?" He asked when he noticed that I had been crying.

"I don't think that this is a good idea anymore." I whispered, the thought of never seeing him again tore at my heart but it had to be done. He ran to me and cupped my cheeks. Fresh tears poured out of my eyes.

"What do you mean? Are you breaking up with me?" His voice cracked at the end and I nodded. "Why?"

"Michael we can't do this, this isn't just about us anymore, it's also about everyone around us too."

"But I need your help."

"I know but what about me? What do I get out of this? You get your fancy CEO position while I get tossed aside and lose another family."

"I told you Connie that you're stuck with me indefinitely. Once this is over we can go back to being friends."

I can't just be friends with you

"Please Connie, I need you. Just a few more months." He begged. "Dad just started talking to me about the company again and how proud of me he is."

"Fine, just a few more months."

Hopefully my heart can survive another few months