chapter 26

Lucas opened the back door and revealed the fluorescent lights into the van. I squinted, trying to adjust my vision.

"Welcome to the L-13's," He said with wide arms. We all hopped out of the car and into the fluorescent lights that lit up a huge garage with 3 vans inside. All the same and all black.

"This is where we keep the cars. We have a specific amount of people out at night which is usually when we get supplies every week or so," Lucas said. The garage was an open area with high ceilings. It was organized with a few tools that are oily. They probably have people that work on the vans if they get damaged. On one of the walls, there was a tall, metal sliding door. Jamie pulled it open letting us in. The room next to the garage was open. It also had high ceilings that could be 20 feet high maybe more. There were the same fluorescent lights but it gave the concrete room a better lighting.

"The lower two levels aren't as nice at the sleeping quarters. These are underground because we always have the lights on so we don't want to draw attention. Down here, we usually hangout. We have ping pong, TV, and video games. Trying to keep teens entertained isn't that hard," Lucas said. There were a few kids inside, staring at us. They were playing cards and listening to music on the stereo. There was another metal sliding door and it led to a room that had four mats on the ground and punching bags around it. It was a big room but still completely concrete.

"This is usually where we train. We fight in here, we build up strength. We need to for the operations we do going in and out of the labs," Jamie explained. I looked at Lydia and she looked at me.

"Ok, prepare yourself. These are the sleeping quarters," Amy said, looking at me. She slid the last metal door to reveal tons of kids running around and hanging out with their friends. There were broken windows in the 100 feet tall building. All different colors. Half of the building had a square with a hole in the middle with doors that were leading to different rooms. There were 3 doors. One on the left from us and two on the right. The building looked like the warehouse but it was bigger. It was maybe 100 feet wide and 300 feet long. There were bright christmas lights hanging everywhere, giving enough light to see everything. There were some guys drinking beers and girls walking around and talking. Some younger kids were playing tag. There were maybe 200 kids in the crowd and they were free. Some were using their abilities and some were just being normal.

"We call this place 'The secret' indicating that this is our secret. Nobody talks about what happens here. The two doors on the right lead to the communications center and the cafeteria," Emily said, staring at Trevor.

Lydia automatically looked at the door that led to the communications center. It was probably filled with computers and I knew she would spend her time there.

"We have about 500 kids here and because of that we have 3 different breakfast, lunch, and dinner times. We all have jobs to help out and we have to train at least once a day. Other than that you're free to do whatever you would like," Amy said.

"What's that door leading to?" I asked, pointing to the door on the right.

"That's Amanda's office. Which is where we are going right now," Lucas said, giving me a small smile. I returned his smile. He opened the door, letting us through. There were 3 doors in the hallway. At the end was an office that had a fuzzy glass door. On each side of us, each door was another training room. But these were different. They didn't have punching bags or mats. They had nothing except a cart which was filled with who knows what. We walked down the wide hallway and Lucas knocked on the glass door. There was a voice that said "Come in."

Lucas opened the door and Emily, Amy, and Lucas all walked in with us. Jamie walked back, telling Lucas something that I couldn't hear. He closed the door behind him. Trevor stood next to me and Lydia was on his other side.

"Stay here," Lucas said, looking at me. Amy and Emily both walked over to one of the walls and they both stood there watching us. Emily kept her eyes diverted from me and stayed on Trevor. Amy was leaning against the wall and didn't care so she picked at her cuticles. Lucas walked infront of us and started talking to the dark skinned lady with long, straight hair.

"Amanda," Lucas said. She turned around to reveal big, full lips and dark brown, round eyes. She was pretty but she was also old. Had to be at least 40 years old.

"This is," Lucas started saying which she interrupted.

"Amber Stevenson and Trevor and Lydia Brown," She finished, her voice sweet and strong. She made eye contact with each one of us.

"It is a pleasure to meet you all," She said. She's british.

"We're sorry to intrude but we escaped The WildFires about 3 weeks ago and have been on the run since. We were wondering if we could be a part of your institution here," I said. She took her eyes off of Lydia and made contact with me.

"We are open to anyone who needs help but if you want to stay you have to give us a reason why we should permanently provide you with our food and shelter. We can't take in every stray that comes into our path," She said. She walked around her desk and leaned against it.

"We understand but we think that we can be useful," Trevor said. She didn't say anything.

"Lydia is very good with computers. She's been able to hack past the security measures the labs and The WildFires have set up multiple times," I said. She looked at Lydia and gave a small smile.

"Nobody in our compound has been able to do that," She said. Lydia smiled so proudly.

"It's a talent I guess," She said, shrugging her shoulders.

"And what about you and Trevor? What do you have to offer?" Amanda questioned.

"Trevor is one of the best fighters The WildFires have. He can be good out on the field," Lucas said. I looked at him and he gave me a small smile. I looked at Trevor and he looked at me with the same small smile.

"What about you Amber? What can you offer us?" She asked, turning away from Lucas and looking at me.

"I'm one of the last ones with the TC side-effect," I said. She narrowed her eyes at me.

"That's impossible. The labs killed all of them," She said. Her face read shock all over it.

Lydia stepped forward. "It's true. She's number one on the rewards system and they want her dead. It's on her file too. There are only two left alive and that's Amber and her brother who is in Texas. The mutations prove it," She said. Amanda looked at her and then back at me.

"Can you fight?" She asked.

"She's a damn good shooter. She just needs training for physical combat," Trevor said. Amanda looked away from all of us. She was thinking.

"If it's true, then we are going to use you for a lot. For operations but also to interrogate people. We don't like to torture people like the labs do. If you can fight, shoot, and train with your abilities then you can stay," She said. She gave a big smile.

"You will have to help out. We have people who go out on supply runs like Emily, Amy, and Lucas and we also have people who work in the kitchen. As well as train the little ones. We also have people that work in the garage fixing the vans. But you have to train once a day while being able to manage your job," She explained.

I nodded at her. "Lydia, I think it would be best if you work in the communications room. Amy why don't you take Lydia to room 3 with Jackie, Cat and Jess," Amanda said, turning to look at Amy. Amy pushed herself off the wall and walked over to Lydia.

"Meet me on the roof at 1 AM," She whispered in my ear, passing me. I gave her a small smile before she walked past me with Lydia at her side.

"Trevor, you can choose from training the little ones to working in the garage. Which would you like?" Amanda asked.

"Can I work in the garage? I've spent enough time working with cars that I can do it with my eyes closed," Trevor said. Amanda nodded and Lucas smiled.

"Looks like you work with me bud," He said from behind Amanda with a huge smile.

"Emily, why don't you show Trevor to room 20," Amanada said, handing her a key. She gave me a glare before passing me and walking side by side with Trevor. We waited until they left the room.

"You don't need to worry. I already knew that information about you. I just wanted to see if you knew yourself," Amanda said.

I looked up at her. "Does anyone know how I can control it?" I asked. She nodded her head.

"We have ex lab employees working with us. We also have children that have seen everything like Lucas. His mother and sister worked with Fallen labs and he saw everything first hand so you will be training with Lucas. You are welcome to train by yourself too but for the main part Lucas can help you with your abilities and strength in physical combat," She explained. I looked over at Lucas and gave him a small smile. He seemed nice. Maybe a new friend.

"Would you like a single room or would you like to stay with your friends?" She asked. I looked back at her.

"Do you think I could stay with Trevor?" I asked, trying not to sound weird asking to room with a boy to a woman that doesn't even know that we are a couple.

"If you would like. The room has a bathroom and is a very open area. It's like a studio apartment. If you would like some clothes and shoes, we have people that go out every week to stores and stock our shop. It's the lower level of The Plaza," She said.

"The Plaza?" I questioned. I think Lucas forgot to mention that name.

"The Plaza is what we call that square in the back half of the building with the open center. It has 2 clothing stores on the lower section and a tattoo parlor and bar as well. You have to be 16 in order to enter the bar and tattoo parlor. We do have older children to keep entertained here and not everyone loves video games," She said. I was surprised. This whole place was a nice compound. It was huge and open and free.

"It sounds interesting," I said.

"Indeed. Mr. Cruz has had some interestings moments in The Plaza. Just be careful there," She said. I heard Lucas try to contain a laugh at the memory that was playing in his head. I ignored it but I couldn't keep a small smile away.

"What job would you like?" She asked. I was no good with cars and I couldn't train the kids to fight. I could probably work in the kitchen, I always cooked at home. I could also do supply runs and inventory.

"Can I do supply and inventory?" I asked.

"That can be dangerous. Do you think you can handle that?" She asked. I hesitated before nodding.

"Alright. Lucas, please escort Miss Stevenson to room 20," She said, walking back around her desk to look at the open laptop. Lucas walked over and gave a small smile.

"Oh and Amber," Amanda said. I turned to look at her.

"Welcome to the L-13's," She said with a smile on her face. I returned the smile before turning around and walking out of the small office, with Lucas at my side.

* * *

"She's intimidating isn't she?" Lucas asked. I could help but laugh.

"Yeah. But she seems like a nice person. Being able to build all of this. I mean clothes, games, tattoos, bars. She wanted a safe haven," I responded. I looked at his aqua blue eyes and gave a faint smile.

"So. What happened to your family?" He asked. I hesitated before telling him the truth.

"Mom died because of lightning. Dad got shot in front of me. I sent my brother to Texas so he could go to Mexico," I said, looking away from him.

"I'm sorry. That's awful," He said. I looked back up at him and gave a faint smile.

"It's ok. I've dealt with it," I said. We stayed silent and continued to walk to my room.

"What about you?" I asked. He looked at me and then away.

"My dad died because of lightning. My sister left Fallen Labs and they ended up killing her because of the information she had about the labs. My mom left the country about 3 years ago. I came here when she did and Amanda has taken care of me ever since," He said. I put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry," I said.

"I've had more than enough time to deal with it," He said. I looked away from him for a moment as we kept walking.

"I don't think you ever deal with the loss of a loved one. No matter how evil or wrong they were," I said. He stayed silent.

"Hey Lily!" Lucas waved over a girl. She gave a bright smile and walked over to us. Her eyes were almond shaped and her hair was long and black. Her eyes were also black and it mixed well with her fair skin. I think she's a bit lighter than me.

"Hi! I'm Lily," She said happily. I gave her a small smile and introduced myself.

"I'm Amber. It's nice to meet you," I said. She started walking with us to my room.

"So, you guys have any tips for this place?" I asked.

"Stay away from Em. She's a bitch," Lucas said. Lily looked at him.

"That's only because she doesn't like you Lucas. Em is actually a sweet person," Lily defended Emily.

Lucas shrugged his shoulders in response to Lily's comment.

"Yeah I don't think she likes me that much," I said to break the silence.

"She barely likes her own sister," Lily said. My brows drew in confusion.

"Amy seems cool though," I said. Lucas looked up at me with a crooked smile. Lily just rolled her eyes.

"Looks like we have another daredevil," Lucas said. Lily shook her head and walked away.

"Have fun flirting with death," She said walking down the hall and back down the stairs. I laughed a little at her reaction. She seemed nice.

"Well. Room 20," Lucas said stopping in his tracks.

I looked behind me and saw the metal door that had the golden number 20 on it.

"I'll see you tomorrow for training. And Amber? Don't go overboard with Amy tonight," He said before turning around and walking back to the stairs. I gave a small smile before opening the metal door.

I can finally make some friends here.

I opened the metal door to see a studio apartment that had windows facing towards the Los angeles skyline. The bed was against a brick wall and had a desk across from it. It was very open. The bathroom was next to the bed witht he same fuzzy glass door from the office. The same christmas lights were hanging from the ceiling. Lydia was looking up at the ceiling, in amazement like I was and Trevor was looking out the window at the skyline.

"My room is better you know. We may not have windows surrounding us but we have so many christmas lights. Plus, we have a stereo system," Lydia said, still in amazement by the lights hanging from the ceiling. I laughed at her commentary. I walked over to the bed and put my bag down before spreading myself across the bed. It was like it was cuddling my body with clouds. It was so soft.

"How's your neck?" Lydia asked. I let out a deep breath and realized that I completely forgot about the bruise.

"Hurts. But it will be gone by tomorrow morning," I said.

"Well, I've admired your lights for too long and considering that I got shot today I'm going to sleep. I'll see you guys tomorrow," Lydia said, leaving the room and closing the door behind her. Trevor was still standing at the window. I got up from the bed and walked over to him. I wrapped my arms around his arm and rested my head against his shoulder. He took a deep breath and looked down at me, snapping out of his thoughts.

"What were you thinking about?" I asked. He leaned down and buried his face in my hair.

"I've always wanted to come to California. Visit Santa Monica Pier or Disneyland. I just never thought I would actually get here. Like this," He said. He placed a soft kiss before lifting his head back up.

"Hopefully, this can be good for us. This whole place," I said. I was hopeful yes but I wasn't certain that everything would be good.

"Have you built up the urge to punch Emily yet?" Trevor asked.

"Why would I want to do that?" I asked in response. I looked up at him and he looked at me.

"Maybe because of what she said in the van," He said. I rolled my eyes.

"Don't know what I did to her and I don't care if she likes or hates me," I said. He stepped away from me for a second and I let my arms fall. His face was in shock.

"You're not jealous? That's new," He said in a teasing way. I punched his arm playfully and he let a smile out.

"You're not jealous of Lucas so shut up," I said in response. I returned his smile. We were both laughing at this point.

"I love it when you laugh," He said, walking towards me. He slid his arms around my waist and held me in a soft but protective way.

"I also love your smile. It's contagious," He said as I put my arms around his neck.

"I love you," I whispered.

"I love you too," He whispered back. He slowly leaned down and kissed me softly. I returned his kiss with the same sweetness and same soft feeling. Our lips parted for a few seconds and we made eye contact. His hands went under my shirt and made contact with my skin, letting me feel the heat his body gave off.

"I made a few rules," He whispered. I couldn't but laugh a little.

"What are these rules?" I asked.

"Well for one, considering that you're 16 and I'm 18, you're the one in control here. And two, if you ever want me to stop," I interrupted him.

"Just shut up and kiss me," I whispered. He kissed me more aggressively and I kissed him as hungryly as he kissed me. I walked backwards towards the bed and He took off his shirt as soon as our lips parted. I did the same in the small moment. He kissed me more and more and I returned all of his kisses. His rain and leather scent crawled from my lips to my jaw, to my shoulder, to my stomach, and back to my lips. I inhaled his scent and savored every moment. My hands went up to his cotton soft hair. He pulled something out of his pocket and all I could was keep kissing him.

* * *

When I woke up, it was 10 minutes before 1 AM. I was supposed to meet Amy on the roof at 1. Trevor's arm was wrapped around my waist while my back was towards him. I carefully moved his arm off of my waist and managed to sit up on the edge of the bed. I reached for my jeans and Trevor's sweatshirt and put them on. I combed my hair with my fingers and looked back at Trevor. I smiled and leaned down, placing a kiss on his cheek before getting up and grabbing my shoes, leaving the room. I carefully closed the door behind me, making sure not to make a lot of noise when I closed it. I looked both ways before heading towards the stairs that led to the roof. I put the hood up to hide my messy hair and walked up stairs until I reached the door that led to the cool breeze blowing in my face and through the strands of hair. I looked up and the stars were brighter here.

"Took you long enough," The dark figure in front of me said. I walked over to her and closed the door behind me.

"I fell asleep," I said. I stopped before reaching the ledge, where Amy was standing.

"Why did you want me up here?" I questioned. She turned around and jumped down.

"You up for some fun?" She asked. This is going to be interesting.

"Depends," I said.

"Nope. You have to commit or you're out. There's no in between," She said. I hesitated. She rolled her eyes.

"Don't worry. If you feel uncomfortable then you don't have to. You can just watch me," She said.

"Watch you do what?" I questioned again.

"In or out?" She said. I stayed silent for a moment. It could be fun. And she said I don't have to do it if I'm uncomfortable. I nodded my head.

"Sure. Why not," I said. She smiled and threw her arm around my shoulders, guiding me to the door I came through.

"I promise I'm not a bad influence. I'm actually a good girl at times but I like a bit of an adventure every once in a while. Lucas hates it sometimes but he's still my best friend, believe it or not," She said. I smiled at her. Amy seemed fun. And respectful too.

"I think I need an adventure or two," I said in response. She smiled back. We walked down the stairs until we reached the bottom floor of The Plaza. Amy looked around us before opening a glass door and pushing me inside the tattoo parlor.

It had red lights and chairs and couches. Nobody was in here except for one girl who looked 19. She was cleaning her needles and turned on the bright light that was on top over every chair. I looked back at Amy.

"Wanna get a tattoo?" She asked with a smile on her face. First night and I'm already in the tattoo parlor. She walked over to me.

"It can be anything you want. Even if you wimp out and there is just a freckle of ink on you," She said. I laughed.

"What are you getting?" I asked. She gave a sly smile.

"See, Vicky here, does tattoos and hair. So I'm dying my tips red and I'm getting a tattoo on my wrist. I'm a tattoo virgin, believe it or not. But I don't have virgin hair," She said. I smiled at her.

"Ok. Sure, I'll get a tattoo," I said. She clapped her hands and walked over to Vicky who had blue streaks in her hair and a tattoo on her arm. I looked around, trying to figure out what design I wanted. I wanted something meaningful. Something close to me. Then I saw a design. It was a square that had a circle inside of it and inside of it was a triangle. I was maybe the size of my wrist. I picked it from the wall and walked over to Vicky, showing her the design.

"Can I get this one?" I asked.

"Sure. You're the fast healing girl though, Right?" She asked. I sat down in the chair and nodded.

"That's pretty cool. The pain will probably go away by tomorrow afternoon," She said, fixing her needle.

"Where do you want it?" She asked. I rolled up my sleeve to show my wrist. I flipped my hand, palm facing up, and pointed at the blue veins under my skin.

"I promise I won't mess you up," I said. She laughed.

"No worries. It's going to hurt so if you want me to take a break then tell me," She said. I nodded at her and laid my head on the head rest of the chair. The buzz of the needle started and I felt a small burning sensation on my wrist.

"Want to tell me why you chose this one?" She asked.

"Does it always mean something?" I responded.

"Well you're getting something on your skin permanently so it usually is. Unless you're stupid like Lucas," She said. I laughed and so did she but she didn't break concentration. I let the laugh die down before responding to her first question.

"My family always played this game on road trips. We would always try to read each other's mind because my brother and I always thought that we could read minds. So my parents would always make a shape with their fingers and we would have to try to guess without looking. My dad always made a square, my mom was always a circle and my brother and I would both choose a triangle and never change it," I said.

"What happened to them?" Amy asked. I looked over at her.

"I don't like to talk about it," I said. Like I told Lucas, I found my way to deal with it. And I like to keep those things about my family to myself. They were my untouched memories. And I wasn't grieving anymore. My parents were dead, yes. But I let them go. Because it was important to them for me to be happy. I forgave myself. But I was still angry about Jared. Him being ripped away from me. Doesn't matter if he was dead or alive. A part of me went with him to Texas and I know that with time, I will be Ok.

"You Ok?" Vicky asked. I looked away from Amy and nodded at her.

"Amber," I said. She looked up at me and smiled at my name.

"I finished the square. Give me 15 or 30 more minutes and you should be good to go," She said. I looked over at Amy.

"Hey. I'm sorry about Em in the van when you got here. She's a real bitch," Amy said. I gave her a faint smile.

"Why doesn't she like me? I didn't even say a word to her," I said. She shrugged her shoulders.

"I think she's jealous," Amy said, crossing her arms over her chest. My brows furrowed. That was the first. Nobody has ever been jealous of me.

"Why? She's prettier than me by a lot," I said.

"She's a little spoiled brat. Our parents used to give her whatever she wanted whenever she wanted it so when she sees something she wants, she usually gets it. But I don't know what she wants from you. She just started acting that way," Amy explained. Now you should be jealous, My thoughts were saying. If she wanted Trevor she probably wasn't going to stop until she got him. And that bugged the hell out of me. Even though I trusted Trevor, I knew nothing would happen on his account but Emily, I could picture her just throwing herself at him. Trying to convince me that I'm bad for him. I bugged me but I wasn't paying much attention to it right now.

"What happened to your parents?" I asked Amy.

"Mom was working with the labs. Our Dad died because of lightning. Labs ended up killing our Mom because she wanted to leave the project," She said. She didn't seem phased by her words.

"Do they just kill anyone who knows about the project and wants to leave?" I asked. She looked into my dark eyes and nodded. There was a pattern with Lucas' parents and Amy's. I didn't know if it was a coincidence or not but I had to ask.

"I'm sorry," I said. She shrugged.

"They were never really around. We were rich so they had to work day and night. I didn't get much and Emily got everything like a little princess. Now she thinks the same thing about everything. Like she can just get it with the snap of her fingers," She said.

"She's a nice girl, don't get her wrong. But when she wants something, she will try and get it until she gives up," Vicky said without breaking her eyes from my wrist. The buzzing of the needle stopped. Vicky looked at me after wiping my wrist with a cotton pad.

"All done. You like it?" Vicky said. The tattoo was simple but still meaningful to me. It was maybe an inch long and an inch wide, so it was noticeable if you saw the inside of my wrist. Even with the thin lines that were forming a square.

"It's perfect. Thank you," I said. She smiled at me and I got off of the chair. Vicky cleaned her needle and turned off the light over the chair.

"Amy, can we do this tomorrow please. I've been up straight for the past 48 hours and your hair is going to take at least 2 hours," Vicky said. Amy groaned.

"Fine. My kitchen duty is dinner tomorrow so can you do it before then?" Amy asked. Vicky nodded.

"I'll see you tomorrow then," Amy said, putting her arm over my shoulder again and walking both of us out.

"Nice to meet you Vicky," I said.

"Nice to meet you too Amber," She responded. I opened the door and we started walking towards the stairs.

"Listen. I love my sister, I really do. She can just be a bully sometimes," Amy said. She took her arm off of my shoulders.

"I'm sure she's nice to people she likes but I'm also sure that I'm not one of them," I said. She gave a small chuckle.

"If she gives you any trouble, tell me. I don't want her to be mean to any of my friends," She said. I smiled at the word friends.

"I will," I said. She gave a small smile.

"I'm going to head to my room. You mind walking by yourself?" Amy asked. I shook my head.

"I'll see you tomorrow then. And if you don't mind, properly introduce your snack of a boyfriend to me, will you?" She asked. I laughed.

"Sure," I responded. She gave a big smile before turning around and walking to the door when I had to climb one more flight of stairs to reach the 6th floor where my room is. Once I finally reached my room, I carefully opened the door and closed it as quietly as I could. When I turned around, the bed was empty. I looked around and walked forward a few steps until I felt strong arms lift me off the ground.

I jumped a little because I didn't know who it was until I heard his laugh. I laughed a little too. He put me down and I turned around to see a shirtless Trevor.

"Where did you sneak off to?" He asked in a teasing voice. I put my hands on his arms and rubbed them as he had his hands on my waist.

"Would you believe me if I said I got a tattoo?" I replied with. He gave a small smile and surprise was on his face.

"Well that's definitely new," He said. I laughed a little. My eyes wandered over his bare skin that was right in front of me. I could stand here all night.

"What time is it?" I asked, keeping my eyes on his evenly toned skin.

"About 3 AM," He responded. His brows furrowed when he saw the black line peeking out of the sleeve.

"Can I see?" He asked. I looked back up at his eyes and gave him a faint smile before pulling down the sleeve enough to reveal the small design on my wrist. He put his hand under mine, making sure not to touch the tattoo since it's fresh.

"You remember the story I told you about why I used to fidget with my fingers?" I asked. He looked at my eyes and nodded.

"I wanted something to remind me of them. Dad was always square, Mom was always circle and Jared and I were always triangle. It's simple but special to me," I said looking down at it.

"Would it be wrong if I said it's kind of hot that you have a tattoo now," He said. I let the smile pop up on my face.

"Maybe I should dye my hair next," I said in a teasing tone.

"You're beautiful to me either way," He whispered.

"Well, I might just stay like this then," I said. He gave a small smile at that. I wasn't one to change my appearance completely. I liked my hair and my scarless skin. I used to be insecure with my body until Trevor called me beautiful. But I still wouldn't have changed anything about me before than either.

"Are you tired?" He asked. I nodded my head.

"Just a little though. I could take a nap sometime throughout the day," I said. He let go of my waist and I let my hands fall to his.

"Come on. We both need sleep," He said. He pulled me towards the bed, holding both of my hands and walking backwards until he sat down on the edge. His hands went from mine, down to my waist, pulling me onto his legs. I put my hands on his shoulders.

"Have you thought about him recently?" He asked, taking in a deep breath and looking at my eyes. He rubbed his hands up and down my back, without letting his hands go under the sweatshirt.

"A little," I responded with a faint smile. I took a deep breath before finishing.

"I think that I've made peace with it," I said. It was true. I think a part of me will always be angry with the world. For taking my dad from me and my mom. A part of me will always be mad at the labs for creating this world. But I finally managed to get the fire to go away. And I felt better, because it was like a weight lifted off my shoulders. Talking about it with Lucas and Amy made me realize that I can't always be mad. Not when worse things happened to them and they are fine. They aren't angry. And that made me realize that I didn't have to be angry either.

"What about you? Are you still angry at the world?" I asked him. He let out a deep breath before looking back at my eyes.

"I'm always going to be angry at the world. And I think you are too. But it's gotten better. I feel more happy and relaxed than angry and tense. I don't know if that's because I know you and Lydia are safe or if I have made peace with it but it's better," He said, giving a small smile. I returned it before he rolled me onto the bed. I couldn't help but smile. He laid down right beside me and took my hand, tangling our fingers together. I kept my clothes on and rested my head on his shoulder. We both closed our eyes and fell asleep, holding hands for the rest of the night.

* * *

I felt soft lips kiss my cheek before I opened my eyes and looked at the dark brown eyes that were in front of me. I took a deep breath and stretched, giving him a smile.

"We gotta get up," He said. I groaned. I've never been a morning person. He sat up at the edge of the bed and before he got up, I reached for his hand and grabbed it.

"Can't we just stay?" I asked, pleading for him not to force me out of bed. He gave a sly smile.

"As much as I would like that, we have jobs to do or else we are back on the street. Plus, aren't you hungry?" He asked, putting a hand on top of mine. I let his words sink in and realized that my stomach was empty and begging for food. I let out a sigh before sitting on the edge of the bed and pushing myself off of the bed and letting my hair out of my braid.

"Do you want to train today?" Trevor asked, putting on a dark red shirt and slipping on his boots.

"Er...about that," I said. He crossed his arms over his chest.

"I was assigned to train with Lucas. Apparently he knows about how to train with my side-effects and even how to trigger my mind control side-effect," I explained.

"Emily asked me to train with her for the next few days. I just thought you'd might want to join us," He said, walking over to me and shrugging his shoudlers. I felt heat and jealousy start to burn a little in my chest. I stayed silent for a moment, trying to figure something out in my head so I wouldn't release the jeaoulsy that I was feeling.

"Emily doesn't really like me so it might be best if I stick to Lucas," I said, trying to hide my jealousy behind a sweet voice. He gave a small chuckle.

"Are you jealous?" He asked. I let my eyes widen.

"Pssh. Of course not. Why would I be?" I said, trying to play it cool. I'm an idiot.

"I'm not exactly too happy with you training with Lucas," He whispered before walking past me and out of the room.

I let a small smile creep onto my face. Guess I wasn't the only one. I walked out of the room and closed the door behind me before catching up with Trevor. We walked down to the cafeteria, talking about today and what we were planning to do.

"You could come and see me in the garage once you're done with inventory. Amanda said that they only go out once a week," He said.

"Well, I kind of want to get a lot of training in. In case you haven't noticed, I'm not the strongest person," I responded, grabbing an apple from the basket in front of me. Trevor grabbed an orange and a cup of oatmeal. I was about to reach for a cup of oatmeal as well until I saw blond hair come into vision. With light purple at the tips.

"Hi Emily," I said, without looking up at her and grabbed the cup of oatmeal.

"What's the deal with you and Trevor?" She asked in a rude voice. I looked up at her for a small second before leaving the line and going over to the table where Lydia and Trevor were sitting until Emily stepped in front of me, crossing her arms over her chest and arching an eyebrow.

"What does it matter to you?" I asked, rolling my eyes. I haven't even known this girl for a full day and she is already getting on my nerves. She took a step closer and looked me up and down before meeting my eyes. Her eyes narrowed at me and her lips came into a sly smile. I narrowed my eyes back at her.

"You better watch yourself. You may be powerful but from what I see, I can easily take you down. I've been here longer than you have, training longer than you have," She said in a low voice. I could feel the anger build up in my chest. I felt an arm slide over my shoulders.

"Hey Em! Do we have a problem here?" Amy asked. I let the small smile pop up on my face.

"I was just telling Amber here to be careful," She responded. Amy narrowed her eyes at Emily and slid her arm off of my shoulders. She stepped in front of me, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Walk away Em. Before I make you," She said in a belittling voice. Emily stared at Amy for a second before looking at me and walking away to go sit with Lily. My eyes followed her light blond hair until Amy turned around to face me with a wide smile.

"You look like a pyscho," I said, laughing and walking past her, over to the table that Lydia and Trevor were sitting at.

"Well at least I saved your ass. I'm so tired of Emily's shit," She said, walking next to me and sitting down in front of Lydia. I was sitting across from Trevor.

"What did Emily say?" Trevor asked, looking over at Emily's table and then back at me. His face was filled with curiosity and a little bit of anger. He heard.

I shook my head and played with my oatmeal. "Nothing important. Just wanted to say Hi and introduce herself properly," I said. Just because Emily and I didn't like each other doesn't mean I had to make Trevor dislike her too. Maybe they could be friends and I didn't care if that's all they were. I felt a sharp jab in the side of my stomach and I looked at Amy whose eyes were wide and switching from Trevor to me. I gave a small laugh and looked at Trevor.

"I'm pretty sure you've met Amy but for some reason she wants me to introduce her to you. So, Trevor this is Amy," I said, pointing at her when I said her name. She didn't even let Trevor speak.

"So do you by any chance have a brother. Or a hot best friend?" She said. Lydia and I both gave a small chuckle and Trevor looked at me with a small smile.

"Nope. Unless you count Lucas as hot. And do me a favor Amy," He said, looking away from me and at her.

"Tell Emily that Amber and I are together. I don't think she got the memo the first few times," He said, giving a sly smile.

"I like him. He actually stands up to Emily and her bullshit," She said, standing up and walking over to Emily's table. She leaned down and whispered something in her ear and as soon as she did, Emily turned her head to look at me and Trevor and gave me a glare of hatred.

I turned away and looked down at my oatmeal until I saw a flash of skin from Lydia lift up to the air. I looked at her and she had her sarcastic face on pointing her middle finger and showing it off to Emily. Emily's stare went from me to Lydia and back to me before turning around and facing Lily again.

I looked at Trevor and at Lydia and we all gave each other a smile before giving a small chuckle. Lucas came over and sat next to me, and gave a pleasant smile to Lydia and said "Hi," to Trevor before turning towards me and scanning my face.

"We can go train right now if you want. It will only take a few hours," He said. I didn't hesitate to nod my head in response. His smile widened.

"Go change into something more comfortable. We are mainly going to be focusing on physical today but we are going to work on your side-effects," He said before getting up and leaving the table, walking out of the cafeteria. I turned back towards Trevor.

"I'll see you later," I said, getting up from the table and giving him a small smile. He returned the same smile. I turned around and walked out of the cafeteria, walking to the stairs that led to the sixth floor and to my room. I quickly walked up the stairs and ran inside the room, running for my backpack that was on the ground and searched for a clean pair of shorts. I really need some new clothes, My mind reacted to the lack of bottoms I had left. I grabbed the last pair of shorts I had that were clean and threw them on. I left the sweatshirt on and left the sports bra that I had under on. I grabbed my hair into a ponytail and rushed down the stairs to meet Lucas in the training room that we passed yesterday.

I walked into the training room and saw him wrapping his fists in tape. Well, at least I knew how to do something for training. I walked over to him and he looked up from his fists and gave me a bright smile.

"Someone's eager to train," He said in a sweet voice. I gave a small laugh. I was excited to train but mainly because I wanted to get stronger for myself. I didn't want to be the weakest person here and if I were to get into a fight with Emily, I was sure that I could at least have a small chance at beating her.

"Just want to get better," I responded. His aqua blue eyes found my dark ones and stayed on them for a moment. His eyes shined in the light and they were such a capturing blue, it was unbelieveable. I lost myself trying to figure out the right words to describe them.

"I'm assuming Trevor taught you a little bit about hand and hand combat?" He asked, taking my hand and wrapping it in the same tape.

"What makes you think that?" I asked, even though he was right.

"Well for one, you have bruises and cuts on your knuckles that are almost healed considering your side-effect and two, big scary boyfriend equals training," Lucas explained.

"He's not scary," I countered. Yes, he was.

"You're right. He's intimidating though," He said laughing a little. I laughed with him.

"He's a nice guy though," I said. He looked up from my hands.

"I'm sure he is," He said in a quiet voice. He let go of my hand and let it fall to my side. He kept one of my hands in his and turned it over, while his brow furrowed. He looked down at the shapes marked with ink on my wrist.

"Didn't think you were the tattoo type," He said, letting go of my hand and letting it fall. I shrugged my shoulders.

"I like adventures every now and then. Plus Amy made me get one," I said. His smile brightened.

"Seems like Amy," He said. He turned around and walked over to a punching bag.

I walked behind him and stopped in front while he stepped to the side.

"Well, let's see what you got. If your stance is good enough I might let you spare me today before we train with your abilities," He said. I gave a small smile before turning away from Lucas and to the punching back. I took my stance, arms in front, feet shoulder length apart, and went through every adjustment that Trevor made to my body while we worked in the hotel gym. Breathe in, punch. Breathe out, retract. I let the energy build up in me and punched the bag as Trevor taught me, using my whole body instead of only my arms. The fire started up again and I let the anger replace the bag with all the screams of the kids that were tortured, all of the parents that died, all of the kids that died, and my brother being sent off. Every bad thing that has happened built up inside of me and took over my body, punching harder and harder, making my body work harder. I eventually got out of breath and let my hands fall, trying to catch a good breath. I felt the rage still burning, even though it was smaller than the last time I did this.

"Well, I think we can fight today. But are you Ok?" Lucas asked, walking a bit closer to me. I looked up at him when I finally managed to catch my breath.

"Just...thinking about things," I responded with a strong voice. He searched my face, trying to figure out if I was lying or telling the truth. I was obviously telling the truth, thinking about those kids and my brother but I was just holding back some information. I didn't want anyone else to know what actually happens to me when I find something to punch. Trevor already knew but that was because he has the same anger as I do and he wasn't scared of me. But I have no idea what Amy and Lucas would think. So I decided not to tell them.

"Go and take a break. Be back in 5 minutes, I have to go do something real quick," He said, walking past me once I let my eyes fall to the ground. I waited until I heard the door slam. I let my eyes fall back up to the punching bag and the images kept rushing into my head. The girl with the turquoise hair, Jeremy begging for his sister. And then I saw Jared. Jared was in Jeremy's place while I was on the ground, in a pool of my own blood. I felt terror and anger in my body and gave the bag one last punch, with all of the force I could muster up. Pain ran through my hand. I put my head in my hands and took a deep breath in. I let it control me. That can't happen.

I lifted my head and sat down, taking the tap off of my hands. I sat there for 15 or 20 minutes before Lucas came back.

"What took so long?" I asked. He seemed out of breath but also irritated.

"Just Emily," He responded, crossing his arms over his chest. Now I understood the fustrated part.

"She trains the kids and sometimes they get out of control and it gets kind of aggressive and I'm one of the head trainers so then I leave her to take care of them and then they come out with bruises and cuts," He explained. His eyes caught mine after a few seconds of silence and then wandered down to my freshly cut knuckles.

"Guess the kids aren't the only one I have to worry about," He said, walking over to me and then sitting next to me. I looked down at my hands again and stayed silent, just staring at the bruises that were old and new.

"Maybe we should save the sparring for tomorrow. You seem exhausted anyways so we can just pick up tomorrow. Plus, you worked on your strength for a while today," He said. I finally looked up from my hands and at him with my brows drawn together. I always lose time when I'm hurt or focused.

"How long have we been here? I don't have a watch so I didn't keep track," I said as my reason.

"About 30 minutes. Maybe 45," He said, standing up and offering a hand for me to take. My eyes followed him and I took his hand, letting him pull half of my weight while I pushed with the other half.

Our bodies were close but not as close as Trevor and I would always be. We had a bit of distance between us. I let my hand fall to my side and stared into his aqua blue eyes. The distance didn't bother me because I knew that I didn't feel the same as I did with Trevor. Instead, it was something I haven't felt in a long time. A friend. But it felt like more. Like I could love him. Like I love Jared.

He stared back at my dark brown eyes and gave a small smile, snapping me out of my own head. I gave him the same small smile before walking past him and out the door, grabbing my water bottle on the way out. As I walked out, I felt the cool breeze hit my body and I wiped the sweat off my forehead before feeling a pull at my arm, tugging me to the side. My feet were off balance and I felt like I would fall on my face on the concrete. I managed to stay up and face the girl who pulled me to the side.

Her hazel eyes were bright with excitement while her blonde hair was pulled back in a ponytail. Her smile touched her eyes making her look a little older than 17 but also like a little kid about to receive candy.

"Are you ready to get your hair dyed?" She said eagerly. I gave a small laugh.

"Amy I'm not dying my hair. Plus, I'm busy," I said. Her smile turned its corners down and she looked at me, trying to say 'What the hell are you doing?' while crossing her arms over her chest.

"I have inventory to do today and considering that I stayed up until 3 AM getting a tattoo with you I'm tired. So I'm not getting my hair dyed Amy," I responded to her stance.

"You know, you're a real party pooper," She said. I rolled my eyes and laughed.

"I'll go with you to get your hair dyed today but my hair stays the same," I said. She groaned and took a moment before saying "Fine. 5 PM is when Vicky is working."

I gave a small smile before turning back around and walking away.

"Please?" She yelled. I kept the smile on my face but without turning around I said, "See you later Amy."

I continued walking until I reached the door that led to my room. It was empty. Trevor was probably at the garage. I quickly walked into the bathroom and took a short shower before putting on another sweatshirt and a pair of jeans on and walking down to the kitchen with my converse on. My hair was damp and starting to form the waves it usually created.

I opened the door to the cafeteria and saw Lily in the kitchen organizing supplies and another girl that was opening packages of food to start making lunch. I walked over to the kitchen and Lily turned around when she heard the door open.

"Hey Amber! Are you on inventory?" She asked, turning back to her clipboard.

"Actually yeah," I responded with. He gave me a bright smile.

"Well, we also help Maya with food so are you any good at cooking?" She asked. I turned my head to look at the girl with blue eyes and light brown hair, opening the bags.

"I know a thing or two," I said, turning back to Lily.

"Then you can help Maya. But make sure that you get her attention first, she has her earbuds in and she always listens to her music at full volume," Lily said, turning back to the food and marking something on her clipboard. I walked over to Maya and tapped her shoulder. She was pretty and she had a bright smile on her face. She was probably the happiest person in the organization. At least from the people I've seen.

"Oh my gosh, I didn't know we had a new girl! I would have made something like cake," She said. I laughed a little.

"That's ok. I'm Amber," I said. He pulled me into an embrace, pinning my arms to my side. She held me so tight for a few seconds before letting me go and giving me a metal bowl.

"I guess Lily already told you my name. You also seem like the kind of person who is good at making mashed potatoes so can I trust you with this?" She asked. She was so upbeat and fun, like nothing could ruin her mood.

"I think I'm trustworthy enough," I said, taking the bowl from her. She smiled at my response. Maya walked over to another bowl and started to mix something into it. I started mashing the potatoes in the bowl.

"Are you two the only ones who usually do inventory and cooking?" I asked.

"We have different people for every meal. So there are 5 people in the morning and 6 people for dinner. Everyone else is training around lunch time or have other jobs around The Plaza," Lily said.

"Are we the only ones for lunch then?" I asked. Lily looked up from her clipboard.

"No. Emily also helps out during lunch but she also works in the garage and something happened to one of the vans," Lily said. Of course she worked in the garage. I pushed the thought of Emily and Trevor working together and something happening between them out of my head.

After that question, Maya played her music out loud in the kitchen and we all started joking around for two hours. We laughed and talked a bit while making lunch. It was the same thing we were having for dinner since half of The Plaza comes for lunch and the other half comes in for dinner. Mashed potatoes and chicken. After we were done making lunch and dinner, I managed to sneak 2 apples out of the kitchen and I walked over to the garage. I took a bite out of one of the apples and opened the door that led to the garage.

When I opened the door, Trevor was under one of the vans and Emily was laughing while holding a wrench in her hand. After her laugh faded, she looked over at me and her smile faded off of her face, clearly unhappy that I interrupted her time with Trevor. Her shirt had oil on it and so did her jeans. Her hands were the worst of all.

"Hi Amber," She said, trying to sound pleasant.

"Hey Emily. Did I interrupt something?" I said, walking over to her.

"No, we were just fixing the transmission. Sorry I couldn't help with inventory," She said, getting up from her seat. She whispered something before walking past me.

"Guess I wanted some one on one time with Trevor, to you know, talk. Maybe do some other things," She said with a small laugh at the end. I turned my head a little and she walked behind me but wasn't out of the garage. I heard wheels roll on the ground and turned my head back at Trevor. His smile was wide and handsome even though he was all sweaty and his white T-shirt and jeans had black smudges on them. He got up from the ground and wiped his hands on a rag.

"How's inventory?" He asked. I gave him a small smile as he walked closer to me. I held up an apple for him to take while responding.

"Fun actually. I got to know Lily better and I met this new girl named Maya. Probably the happiest person that I've seen since my mom," I said. He took the apple from my hand and before looking back at my dark eyes, his brows furrowed. His eyes scanned my bruised and cut knuckles. His eyes went back up to mine.

"I'm assuming training wasn't the best today," He said. My eyes drifted from his to an oil smudge on his cheek and then back.

"Just...it was nothing," I said, looking away from his eyes and scanning his shirt. He let out a deep breath that made me draw my eyes back to his.

"Don't push yourself too hard Amber. You already saw what happened in the hotel," He said.

"Yeah, I know. I just get lost in my thoughts, that's all," I said. He gave a faint smile before looking behind me, at Emily. I could feel her eyes on us.

"Why don't you train with me for a bit? Just physical. You can train your abilities with Lucas but we could train tomorrow before breakfast," He said, looking back down at me. I could hear Emily give a low growl.

"What about Emily?" I said quietly. He shrugged his shoulders.

"She can wait," He said, inching his face closer to mine. I closed the distance between us and placed a sweet kiss on his lips. His lips pulled away from mine and I looked up at his brown eyes.

"Is that supposed to convince me to say yes because if so, it's working," I said, giving a small laugh.

"Now, do you want to stay or do you have something else to do?" Trevor asked, walking back to the van and grabbing a wrench.

"Well, I actually have to meet up with Amy because she wants to get her hair dyed and I promised her to either be there with her or dye my hair too," I said walking over to the chair that was in front of the van.

"Well then, unless you want to get oil all over my sweatshirt then stay in that chair," He said with a small smile on his face. I returned his smile and took a bite out of the apple in my hand, sitting down on the chair. Emily walked over next to me and gave me a glare out of the corner of her eye and handed Trevor a wrench.

"Are you sure it's the transmission?" She asked. He laid back on the floor and slid under the car.

"Positive," He said. I sat there quietly for about five minutes, listening to Trevor and Emily talk about what else could be wrong with the van, until Amy bursted through the doors and came running towards me.

"Move Emily," She said, pushing past her sister and grabbing my arm. My eyes were wide with curiosity.

"Come on! Vicky can do my hair right now and I'm not going in there alone," She said, dragging me out of the room. I didn't even get the chance to say anything to Trevor before I was out the door. I was running at this point while Amy still dragged me behind her.

"Amy, it's just hair," I said as we reached the door to the tattoo parlor.

"Party pooper," She said, opening the door to let me in. I rolled my eyes and walked into the room where Vicky was standing with conditioner and hair dye. Amy eagerly sat in the chair and I sat across from her. Vicky had a box of red dye behind her. Guess Amy changed her mind about the blue that she wanted.

"You ready? It'll be almost an hour and a half until we're done. Maybe more," She said.

"When am I not ready?" She responded. That's when Vicky started adding conditioner in Amy's hair and washing it out before adding the red dye.

* * *

"So, mind explaining why my sister was in the garage flirting with your boyfriend?" Amy asked as we walked side by side up to my room. Her bright red tips swung past her shoulders when she turned her head to look at me. I shrugged my shoulders at her question that she was avoiding for the past 2 or 3 hours.

"Lily said that Emily also works in the garage and that's the job Trevor wanted," I said, looking at my shoes.

"Emily does a lot around here but mainly because a lot of her friends sometimes need help. Lily sometimes asks her to help in the kitchen and she volunteers for supply runs but originally she is supposed to be training the younger kids," She explained. By her explanation of Emily, she sounded like a sweet girl. Volunteering to help around in places that she wasn't supposed to.

"Why does it matter? I trust Trevor," I responded.

"It's not Trevor who I'm worried about," She said. I lifted my head and met her hazel eyes.

"About a year ago, Lucas and I had a thing. It was short but we wanted to start something. We dated for a week or two and one day I found Emily and Lucas in her room. Kissing," She said. I could feel my face harden a bit.

"She's your sister. How could she do that to you?" I asked. She shook her head.

"I really did like him. And I know he liked me too because he kept saying that Emily came onto him and that he tried to get her to leave before they kissed. She flirted with him for weeks before we were together and kept flirting, knowing that we were in a relationship," She said. She took a deep breath before finishing.

"Emily doesn't care who she hurts in order to get what she wants. Even her family. She's going to do everything she can to break you and Trevor up just so she can have him. I just...I don't want it to happen again. And especially not with you," She said. We walked up the stairs in silence for a moment before I said something to break the silence.

"But why does she want Trevor?" I asked. I understand why considering that Trevor was smart and kind and handsome but there were plenty of guys here like Trevor.

"She feels like it's a fresh start. Everyone in The Plaza knew about Emily and Lucas and they kind of stayed away from her except Lily and Lucas and me but she feels like she can have something with Trevor considering he knows nothing," She said. We reached the door that led to the floor where my room was.

"Plus, have you seen your boyfriend lately? All the girls are drooling over him," She said in a teasing way. I gave a small smile. We finally reached my door and I opened it to see Emily sitting next to Trevor and Lucas laughing with them. I stood there, my eyes going from one person to another and to another.

"I'll get her out of here," Amy whispere, walking past me and over to Emily with her arms crossed over her chest. Emily looked up at her sister and gave me a crooked smile with a cruel galre in her eyes.

"Outside. Now," Amy said pointing towards the door. Emily stood up from the bed and started walking towards the door, Amy behind her.

"You too Lucas," She said without looking at him. Emily whispered before getting out of the room.

"Your move," She said before Amy pushed her out of the door. I could feel my heart race and anger build up. I gave Lucas a small smile before her left the room and I heard the door close. I looked away from the wall and met Trevor's curious eyes.

"What was that all about?" He asked in a soft tone. My eyes wandered to his hair. It was shorter. It wasn't close to his eyebrows anymore, instead it was shorter and lifted by the messiness he created by running his hands through it, pushing it back a little. Like a short quiff hairstyle.

"You cut your hair," I said, surprised walking over to him slowly. My heart was still racing but the anger was dissipating.

"You like it? Jamie offered to do it," He said, getting up from the bed. I gave a small smile and nodded my head.

"Just...different. But it looks good," I said, sitting on the bed and looking down at my hands. He stood there for a second before turning to look at me.

"Are you ok? You're acting kind of weird," He said. I took a deep breath before looking up at him and meeting his dark brown eyes. If I told him about Emily then I could ruin her fresh start for a friend. Even though I hated her, I didn't want her to lose a friend. But if I don't tell him then I could lose him. Lie and save their friendship or tell the truth and destory it.

"Are you and Emily just friends?" I asked with sympathetic eyes. His face went from curiosity to shock. He sat down next to me and I let my eyes follow his.

"Amber, Is this because I invited her here?" He asked. I let my eyes fall to my hands again.

"Amy told me some things about her. And I know how you feel about me but I just need to know...has anything happened between you two?" I asked. My heart started racing at the question, desperate for the answer but scared for the truth. He cupped my cheek and stroked my cheek bone with his thumb with a small smile on his face and his eyes sparkling like they only did when he was with me.

"Nothing will ever happen between me and Emily," He said. His hand drifted from my cheek and down to my shoulder. I leaned into him and wrapped my arms around him while he wrapped one arm around my back and rested his other hand in my hair, holding my head in his hands. He placed a soft kiss in my hair before resting his chin on my head.

"Why are you so worried about me and Emily? Did Amy say something?" He asked. I lifted my head from his chest, letting his arms wrap around me, and met his eyes.

"Amy and Lucas were dating about a year ago until Emily kissed Lucas because she had a crush on him. Despite the fact that her sister was dating him," I said in a quiet voice. His brows furrowed in confusion.

"Everyone has been warning me about her. Emily and Trevor this, Emily and Trevor that. And when Amy told me about Emily and Lucas all I thought was, what if she tries to do something to break us up?" I asked in the same quiet voice. He gave a small smile and then slowly leaned in, closing the distance between our lips. I leaned into his kiss even though it was supposed to be short. When he broke our lips, I wanted the kiss to last longer. I wanted my heart to keep racing and the butterflies to keep flapping in my stomach.

"Nothing can ever tear me away from you. Not after everything that has happened for us to get here," he whispered, resting his forehead on mine, letting me feel his breath on my cheek.

He was right. Everything that happened from the warehouse to getting here. Me getting posioned, the motels, the hotel training, almost running me over with a truck. Every small thing that happened wasn't tearing us apart. It made our bond stronger. But I knew that wasn't going to stop Emily from trying everything she could until Trevor broke up with me.

"It's Emily who I'm worried about," I whispered back. He shook his head a little.

"I love you. And only you. That will never change," He said. Before we could close the distance again, Trevor's arms fell to my waist when he heard the door slide open and he lifted his head from mine. I turned my head around to see Lydia out of breath and with panic on her face.