Sleep

Finally, Brayden could breathe he returned to Lillian's room to see her shivering. He picked up the duvet, knowing it was her favorite, and quickly covered her. As the shivering subsided he made himself comfortable on the floor with the sleeping bag. Even if he were only on the floor he had always slept better being in the same room as Lilly. He assumed it was like comfort for him. Like normal people have their comfort foods, he was stuck in old memories from better times. He remembered when they were first on the run Claire kept them in a studio apartment to ensure they were safe at all times. She was able to sleep knowing they were safe. He assumed that's where he learned his over protectiveness from but also knew that wasn't fully the truth. There was always a pull to Lilly to protect her even when they were little. Brayden knew where she was and asked what she was doing at all times. Of course, he never told her because she would freak out but because of this, he had saved her more times than she liked to admit. The thought of her fire-red hair when she's angry brought a soft smile to his lips and he laid back on the pillow. He fell asleep quickly finally trying to sort out the meaning behind his dream and watching the door for Claire to return.

The bittersweet smell of blueberry pancakes filled the air. Lilliana struggled to fall back to sleep knowing the smell only meant one thing. Her mother was about to drop some pretty tough news.

Lillian was only 17, almost 18, years old but knew her mother's tactics well. Lilliana had always been exceptionally smart for her age, she rarely showed her intelligence as she learned at a younger age it brought too much attention. They moved often to 'stay under the radar' but due to the all too often changes in schools, and jobs they were considered outcasts. Thankfully she was able to finish schooling and focus on her training with Brayden even if he was a huge jerk.

With the constant moving, left them poor and stuck in the slums, or ghetto parts of towns. Lilliana didn't mind, it brought a sense of peace to her knowing the ones searching for them wouldn't think to look right under their own noses.

Her stomach growled and so did the one behind her. She sighed and rolled over to see her cousin passed out on the floor next to her bed. All she could see was the blonde hair sticking out of the top of the sleeping bag she always left next to her bed at night. Part of her knew she would see him next to her this morning. They had been in this place for too long, it was only a matter of time before they had to hurry to pack up and leave. Another change in identity, a new school, a new crappy apartment, and annoying teenage girls crushing on her cousin and treating her like garbage. The thought of this always made her sick. They would drool over him like he were meat to a stray dog. She always smiled at the image of the girls being considered female dogs. After all they really were just btiches stuck in heat when ever they saw his amazing figure. Maybe this time she could convince her mother to let her work instead of going to school. Brayden hadn't technically passed the graduation tests so he would need the new school. The thought of her staying home and him going to school made her smile. Brayden claimed he didn't need school, he claimed to know everything he needed to know. But Claire insisted to keep them together to better protect them should someone find them. Lilliana knew Brayden was told something important about the two of them but he refused to tell her anything. He always claimed he hadn't the slightest clue what she was talking about. But Brayden had known since a very young age how special they both were. He often had dreams of their future battles together. It was these dreams that told him of their future but he let Lilliana believe a person had actually told him of their future fate. Like some fortune teller came out of the wood works to tell him their future then just magically disappear. It’s not like magis exists to that point anyway, she knows of the magic Claire uses to protect them and conseal their weapons as jewlery. Other than that it couldn’t possibly be real, just messed up dreams from all the horror movies Brayden watches.

In many of these dreams one or both of them were killed, often times they would even kill each other. With these dreams, he felt very guilty, as if he had been at fault, and would often go to check on Lilliana. It happened so often lately she started leaving a thick sleeping bag, pillow, and blanket next to her bed. He knew she was annoyed but grateful because she stopped complaining and actually started leaving her warm blanket for him to use. Knowing it was her favorite he wouldn't use it and oftentimes placed it on her before going to sleep on the floor. Secretly having him near made her feel safe, especially after the incident with Mark the previous month. Thankfully Brayden came home from work at the right time.

Lilliana thought of the wonderful smell seeking its way to her room and the fact Brayden was laying on the floor. She hurriedly sat up and threw her pillow at Brayden saying, ''Hey stupid!" Then laughed as Brayden tried to free himself of the sleeping bag to defend himself from the sudden attacker. His arms flew out the top of the bag making his pillow fall on his face. With this, his body jerked trying to fight off the one holding him in place. Only to realize it was a pillow and he was still stuck inside the sleeping bag. He suddenly stopped and removed the pillow before taking a deep breath and glaring at Lilly.

"First off ouch!" Brayden threw the pillow back and then unzipped the bag freeing himself. "Second, you're welcome for watching over you. Ungrateful little shit!" He mumbled the last bit half hoping she didn't hear. With a huff he knew she did so he continued. "If I didn't watch out for you someone might mistake you for a sitting stool!" He was finally free of the bag and half kicked it to show it he had won the silent one sided battle.

Brayden stood up straight almost knocking his head on the fan hanging from the ceiling. He had far passed 6 feet before he was even 16 and had stopped checking because he felt like an outcast. For the past few months, he let his dark blonde hair grow a few inches. This helped hide his caramel eyes, he didn't like how people would stare. They were just like his mother's with a dark brown ring around them. Lilliana's mother often said it was the mark of a foreseer. But he couldn't bring himself to believe he could see into the possible future. Multiple fanning girls had told him how attractive he was with his masculine body, one even went as far as saying he could have been hand sculpted by the gods. It made him sick just thinking about the stupid girls and their obsessive behavior toward him. Brayden was so glad when Lilliana passed those tests so they didn't have to return to that stupid school. Or any school for that matter, the tests were so easy it was stupid. He had passed them years ago but kept going to school to keep Lilly safe. Claire agreed it was safer to keep them together so they didn't tell Lilly to prevent an argument. Although Claire was only his aunt they had a strong relationship like a mother and son. She had raised him like her son and loved him just like she loved Lilly.

Brayden's little stool comment was another short joke. Lilly didn't really hit her growth spurt until recently. Within the past month, she had grown to just shy of 6 feet when before she was just under 5 feet. Her auburn hair was naturally wavy and grew so quickly that she gave up on keeping it short. Her emerald eyes were often covered with contacts to help not attract unwanted attention. Her eyes helped her see the soul of a person, almost like reading an aura of a person. Unfortunately, it made her eyes get a sudden sparkle in them and would make people stare. Lilly knew they came from her father since her mother was all dark, with brown hair, and brown eyes. She had only heard stories from her mother of her father but knew their love was strong. Lilly especially liked to hear stories of how Brayden's parents were mighty warriors and that's why he lived with them like her brother.

Lilly couldn't help but laugh at the struggle Brayden had caused himself with the sleeping bag. Finally, he was able to free himself and rolled it back up before saying, "Do you want to hear about the dream or shall we hear the news first?" He knew with the wonderful aroma coming from the kitchen that bad news was surely coming.