My Mysterious Savior

22.

Lilith's point of view

"Ephraim." I whispered after maybe five minutes of silence. I heard him snort before humming in reply. "I can't sleep." I felt his chest vibrate when he chuckled.

"This probably means that I don't get to sleep either, doesn't it?" He asked and, well, he wasn't wrong.

"I'm sorry." I grimaced before sighing. "I just can't seem to keep my mind quiet."

"What do you want me to do about it?" He looked down on me and I shrugged. "Alright, I'll play the therapist, we'll start with Camden. How do you feel about the whole situation?"

"I do love him but I don't want to give him the power of leaving again." I mumbled, hiding my face in his chest because I didn't want him to see me vulnerable. "I felt so lonely and unprotected without him."

"Well, if he decided to leave again, you won't ever be alone." Ephraim offered as comfort. "You have those girls and the guys. You even have my mother and sister." He chuckled.

"Thanks." I whispered. "What would you do?" I asked, lifting my head to meet his gaze.

"I don't know." He replied. "I won't ever let Eva leave me, that's for sure. I would chain her to her desk if needed."

"No, I didn't mean her." I said softly and his expression hardened. "What would you do if your father came back and begged for forgiveness?"

"That's completely different than your situation." He scowled, gently pushing me off him so he could sit up.

"They both left, didn't they?" I said with a sigh, sitting up as well.

"You don't know what happened." He turned his back to me as his feet dangled off the side of the bed.

"Yes, I do, Ephraim." I whispered, moving to sit behind him with my legs in a pretzel way. "I wasn't the only one that changed."

"Lilith." He warned but I ignored him as I wrapped my arms around his waist and leaned my head on his bare back. His muscles tensed for a second before relaxing against my body heat.

"When he left, five years ago, that's when your fights at school started." I said. "You're not the only one who notices change in someone's behavior."

"I didn't change." He grumbled like a kid while crossing his arms over his chest.

"Yeah, sure you did." I chuckled before turning serious again. "You were the golden boy, Evie." I grinned. "Everyone adored you, the way you looked, acted and even how smart you were. You did change."

"I used to be nice, so what?" He scoffed. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"Then tell me." I whispered, turning my head to lean my forehead against his back and he sighed. "Help me understand."

"He left, okay?" Ephraim snapped. "He left right after Evangeline was born and we weren't ready for it. We never even saw it coming."

"I'm sorry." I mumbled as he turned his torso to me. His hands reached out and grabbed me, lifting me up to put me on his lap. I straddled him as his kept a tight grip on my hips.

"It's fine, we don't need that âsshôle anyway." He said darkly, not looking me in my eyes. "We've been doing fine for five years so he won't be of any use now."

"Don't you miss him?" I asked quietly, I didn't want him to get upset now. I raised my hand to his hair, combing my fingers through it gently and he sighed while closing his eyes.

"I used to." He shrugged. "I always wondered why he left until I realised that I shouldn't care. Sure we have some good memories but that all faded when he abandoned us. I didn't have time to worry about his sorry âss. I had to take care of my mother and sister."

"So you would have no reaction at all if he came back now?" I frowned.

"I would probably break his nose and then keep on going with my life." Ephraim raised his shoulders and I retracted my hand. "I don't want anything to do with him and he has nothing to say about me or Evangeline." He took my hand and placed his back around his neck. I chuckled and continued to play with the hairs at the base of his neck.

"You'd punch your own father?" I frowned.

"Yes." He answerd without hesitation. "He left my mother when she needed him the most, she was still in the hospital for God's sake. He left her with a son, a newborn daughter and a bunch of unpaid bills. I will punch him." He said seriously as he looked into my eyes. "I'm surprised you didn't punch Camden."

"Nah." I waved it off. "I don't have the hate for him that you have for your father."

"So, what are you going to do?"

"I think I'm just gonna see how everything goes with the wedding." I shrugged. "I guess we can try being siblings again but there's no way we can go back to the way we were before he left."

"You can't be." Ephraim replied.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I pouted.

"You're not the same person as you were before he left." He chuckled, pushing a curl out of my face. "You're much stronger, smarter, braver." He paused to give a good look at my face. "And defintely much prettier."

"Ephraim!" I gasped and hit his shoulder. "I wasn't that ugly before."

"You wore glasses, had braces and had straight hair almost every day." He laughed.

"I still have those glasses." I growled at his insult, I love my glasses.

"I know but I just like your natural hair more." He grinned. "And you did look pretty cute with those glasses. But the braces were just a no no." He grimaced and I glared at him. "Come on, show me that smile. Let's see the work of those ugly braces."

"Screw you." I turned my head away from him.

"My bed's always available for you." He winked and I snorted. "There we go." He grinned as he stared at my smile. "That's much better."

"You've insulted me enough for now, don't ya think?" I rolled my eyes.

"Ah, good old times." He leaned back on his hands.

"You really like my curly hair better?" I frowned confused, not really believing what he was saying.

"Yeah, much better." He nodded.

"I hated it a few years ago." I grimaced. "I didn't want to stand out like that. All the girls in our class had straight hair and most of them were blonde as well."

"You always stand out, it's not just your hair." He shook his head in disapproval. "Your light green eyes tend to get people's attention and you yell a lot in Spanish."

"Yeah, mom said to just talk in Spanish if I was mad. Most of our classmates didn't understand anyway." I snorted.

"I did." He smirked. "And usually it was about me." I rolled my eyes and then yawned.

"Ah, a yawn." He grinned. "We can go to sleep now." He laid back on the bed with me still ontop of him and pulled the blankets over my back. "I see that you like this position." He teased and I glared before getting off him. I snuggled into his side, my eyes feeling tired.

"Yeah." I yawned again, leaning my head on his chest. "Thanks."

"Any time." He replied but I was already drifting into the darkness.