FicWad

I arrived back at our makeshift home which consisted of an old bunker of some sort probably an army one declared unfit for use but it was good enough for us. The bunker was in the middle of a forest, surrounded by trees of all shapes and sizes. The doorway into our home, wasn’t exactly a proper door, it was a hole in the floor which I jumped down into and led the way back inside to be greeted by the cheery faces of Eric and Stick.
‘So how did it go?’ Stick asked, smiling happily.
‘I got everything, I could possibly need.’ I smiled relieved at the happy atmosphere in the room; I was used to being confronted by Kyle.
‘So aren’t you going to show us,’ He asked in mock surprise, expecting me to whip every item I had and discuss whether it would look hot or not.
‘Sorry, I’m not that girl.’ I said smiling cheekily at him. ‘Although, you can borrow whatever you want, it’ll all look gorgeous on you.’
‘Yeah,’ Eric laughed. ‘Go on and give us a fashion show Stick.’
The last comment resulted in a play fight between Eric and Stick which Darren got pulled into somehow.
As they wrestled and tumbled all over the floor, rough housing and laughing. I realised that I was becoming one of them, part of the family. I still missed mine but the realisation was that I was beginning to like being part of the family.


Two Years Later
I had been a part of this makeshift family for two years. I had answered their questions, laughed at their jokes and put up with the ups and downs of life. I loved them like brothers all except one. I still wasn’t trusted to go out on my own, they thought I would run away, but I had never been happier. I used to have problems at home, an alcoholic father and a workaholic mother, I was left to raise myself. I missed them but it was happier here.
Darren and I had been spending every second together, for almost all of the two years. I had gotten him to open up to me and I to him. I fell in love with him, everything about him but he kept withdrawing from me.
I slipped out of my room unnoticed by the snores in the other room and followed the corridor down towards Darren’s room. I knocked softly and heard him murmur, ‘Come in.’
I opened the door and stepped in shutting it quietly behind me. Darren was sitting on a small armchair reading, he looked up as I entered and smiled. I went to stand beside him, to read over his shoulder.
He closed his book and stood, ‘Happy Birthday.’
‘What?’ I asked.
‘Happy Birthday,’ he said slightly firmer. ‘It’s your nineteenth birthday.’
I gasped, ‘Is it really? I didn’t realise.’
‘I know.’ He said, smiling slightly.
I didn’t say anything.
‘I got you a present.’ He said, handing me a small box covered in shiny deep blue wrapping paper.
‘Thank you.’ I gasped, as he placed the box into my hand.
‘You’re welcome.’ He whispered.
I went to sit on his bed to open my parcel. He sat down close to me but not close enough to be touching. I carefully opened my present, making sure to leave the wrapping paper in pristine condition. As I put the wrapping paper to one side, I looked at the little box I had in my hand, it was made of wood and it was intricately carved with swirls around the sides but on the top was my birthmark carved into the smooth surface.
‘It’s lovely,’ I said in awe, ‘Did you carve it?’
‘Yes,’ He replied quietly, ‘But that’s not the present.’
He leaned in towards me and opened the little box in my hand, inside was a ring. It was long and when I placed it on my middle finger, it took up the space on my hand below the joint on my finger. It was two bands of silver that intertwined at separate sides of my finger, resting against each other to form two hearts.
‘I love it,’ I said softly turning to stare at Darren.
‘I thought you would.’ He replied, looking into my eyes.
I leant into him to hug him for my gift but as soon as I touched him, he withdrew from me. Leaning back, I returned to my usual position with a hurt expression. He just stared at me, examining me with eyes that didn’t give away any emotion before finally saying, ‘I’m glad you like your present.’
Within two seconds he was gone out of the door leaving me to sit and stare at where he had been moments ago.
I stayed staring for a couple of minutes, unmoving and unblinking, until I was finally over the shock of his sudden withdrawal. I moved slowly off the bed and went to see if any of the others were up. I found Eric and Stick in the living room, ‘Happy Birthday,’ They chanted together, smiling brightly at me. I couldn’t help but smile back even though I was still hurting.
‘We got you this present,’ Stick grinned, throwing a parcel at me. In my attempts to catch it I stumbled backwards, unaware of Darren behind me, and fell onto his lap.
I looked behind me, my cheeks turning a slight shade of pink, ‘Sorry,’ I mumbled, sliding onto the seat next to him. Darren had in fact caught the present and handed it to me before continuing to read his book. I opened the present while the others laughed their heads off.
‘Thanks guys.’ It was a small MP3, as I turned it on, I realised it had all my music from old phone.
‘No worries, we know how you’re always complaining about our taste of music.’ It was true. They played heavy metal and rock with no sound limits. I was constantly yelling at them to turn it down.
The others came in then after being woken up by Stick and Eric’s raucous laughter.
‘What’s the occasion?’ Kyle asked, ignoring me as always.
‘My birthday,’ I replied, ignoring his rudeness. He turned to look at me and glare, ‘I’m nineteen.’
His gaze softened slightly and then hardened again, ‘So?’ He said arrogantly and went to sit down next to Stick.
‘Happy Birthday Silhouette.’ Tristan was standing beside me and was holding a present out towards.
‘Thanks,’ I said, shocked. Tristan and I had always gotten along but he had always stopped talking to me as soon as Kyle entered the room in case Kyle thought badly of him.
I opened the present, it was a small notebook covered in purple leather. ‘It’s beautiful Tristan,’ I said, smiling, ‘Thank you.’
The day continued with a very off-key rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ and a small cupcake with nineteen candles squeezed onto it. I smiled and laughed along with boys, even though my smile was a little forced and so was my laugh, they didn’t seem to notice. When I thought I had spent enough time with them to be considered polite, I excused myself and went to my room.
When I had just curled myself into my bed, I heard a quiet knocking at my door and someone quietly enter. I knew it was Darren, I could sense him as soon as he entered the room. He sat down quietly next to me on the bed, my back was too him as I lay down to sleep.
‘So what’s up?’ He asked, questioningly.
‘What do you mean?’ I asked, quietly.
‘You just seem down,’ He said, I rolled to face him, finding that he was looking at me with a troubled expression. There was a lot more emotion on his face than I was used too. ‘So what’s up?’
‘I don’t know,’ I whispered. I sat up and put my head on his shoulder and he put his arm around me. ‘I just feel,’
‘Feel what?’ He asked concerned.
‘It doesn’t matter.’
‘Of course it matters,’ He glanced at me, ‘You always matter.’
At that moment, I moved away to sit in front of him, I leant into him. My face was inches away from his, he started to draw back but I said, ‘I just feel like I keep trying to get close to you and you’re always drawing away.’
At that moment he leant towards me, closing the gap between us and pressing his lips softly to mine. He backed away slightly, though the tips of our noses were still touching, ‘I’ve been hurt too many times,’ He said, ‘I’ve been left too many times.’ The strong leader that I watched separate any argument and keep the others in line, was gone. All that was left was a sensitive man, afraid to show his feelings.
‘Twice.’
‘I know, we’ll figure something out.’ He said, pressing his forehead to mine. ‘Don’t give up.’
‘I could never give up on you.’
I had known from that moment that he loved me.