Lost Minds

32

"Let me take the bed." Scarlett says, almost under her breath. She stands at the end of the bed. Rick walks up to her.

"No, boys take the bed, girls take the floor." He protests, putting his hand on the mattress.

"Why can't I sleep in the gun room again?" Maddy says, a smirk coming to her face.

"Ugh, I'm sleeping next door at Naomi's. I just need a blanket." Matteo sighs.

Do friends usually argue with each other the moment dinner ends? Maybe Daxon and I have been doing it right.

"Let's play rock, paper, scissors for the bed." Cole suggests.

"Seriously Daxon, where are your extra blankets?" Matteo searches the room.

"This is why I hate when they come over." Daxon leans against the wall next to me, I shrug.

It's more lively then I've ever been around.

"They look like they're having fun." I tell him, keeping my eyes on the bickering group.

"Of course you would say that." Daxon remarks, a small grin on his face as I turn my gaze onto to him. I scoff.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" I ask, as he narrows his eyes at me, pushing off of the cream wall.

"You know what it means, hermit." Daxon walks off as I glare after him, unable to help my own smile.

It's not even funny but it is.

Daxon sits on the bed, interrupting the argument between his friends as they all hush to a silence.

"It's my bed, I'm sleeping on it. Matteo, the blankets are in my closet, last drawer, get some for all of them, and no you can't sleep in Naomi's room. Maddy, you can't sleep in the gun room either. The floor is big enough for the 6 of you." He states, as we all watch him. I glance at the other members as Maddy pouts, and some of the rest sigh.

"No one wanted to sleep on your stupid bed anyway." Scarlett mumbles, breaking the silence as Matteo heads into the closet behind me.

"You're no fun, Daxxy." Maddy sits on the floor, in front of the door of the gun room.

The room is really gorgeous. I'd like to sleep in there too. My other gun was probably pulled out from the ashes of my burnt house.

"He's right. We can't always argue like that. I'm camping in the kitchen." Cole says, waving to all of us as he walks a couple of feet away, sitting under the small table as his head bumps underneath it.

"Me and Scar will sleep in the closet. Don't bother us." He says as Scarlett scoffs under her breath. I smile.

These guys get funnier and funnier.

"Whatever, goodnight." Matteo walks around the room, throwing blankets at each member. I slide against the wall, sitting as he approaches me. Bracing myself for the impact of the blanket hitting my face, Matteo reaches out, simply dropping it on top of me. I look up at him as he huffs.

"You seem the most normal to me out of all these crackheads. Don't get too caught up with them. You might catch something." He says, the last blanket in his hands as he walks over to the side of Daxon's bed, laying out his sleeping spot there.

He's nice. A nice guy annoyed by a bunch of misfits. It's great how he fits right in. They're like a family and Daxon's their Dad.

I almost snort at my thoughts as the lights switch off and only the moonlight from the windows light the room.

"Hey, Naomi." Maddy's high-pitched voice says as I lay my sheet against the wall.

"Yeah?" I respond, my own voice foreign to me.

I've stayed so quiet around such big personalities, it almost seems wrong to speak now.

"Your house got burned down, right? Did you get any new clothes?" She asks. My eyebrows furrow.

Daxon and I brought house stuff but not clothes. It didn't even come to mind.

"No, we didn't." She laughs loudly suddenly as groans echo around the room. I wait for her response.

"Great, we'll go tomorrow after the move in. It'll be like a girl's day out shopping. Ah, I can't wait. Scarlett, you're coming too." A soft sigh comes from the kitchen.

She really didn't join Rick in the closet.

"That sounds like a yes! Cool, get a good night's rest, we're going out shopping." She sings as I hum, resting my head on my hands and closing my eyes.

I'm not sure how to handle these people at all. I've never had someone I didn't want to fuck with, or bully other than Daxon, who's approached me. And I did want to get on his bad side.

Why the fuck am I hoing to sleep surrounded with people I don't know, when just a couple of days ago, I was in my room, relaxing.

I don't know how to act around them because I don't want us to become close.

Being friends with someone is a stupid commitment you make to friend and then when it ends you're the one left behind. It's better if it just doesn' t happen at all.

Daxon is the only one I'm allowing myself to call friend. It doesn't make sense to bond with all these people when I know they'll just leave me beind in the long run.

I'm not crying about that anymore. I won't let it hurt me anymore.

I'll go shopping, eat, and laugh with them, but I don't have to force myself to make a real connection with any of them.

They're a cute group and I'd love to hear them argue all the time, but it's their group. I'm not a part of that. Daxon is, but I'm not.

Friends don't have to be friends with each other's friends.

As much as that distances me from him, I'm okay with looking in from the outside. It's safer.

Fuck my parents and fuck the intuition but I won't lie to myself. Hurt is hurt.

And they fucking stabbed me.

My eyes peek open, the light from the moon bright enough to reveal Daxon's eyes on me. Our gazes meet as we silently stare at one another.

His face remains neutral as I close my eyes again, only a strange discomfort spreading in my chest.

I'm still bleeding.