“I’m not promising it’ll be done overnight, or that ugliness won’t surface from time to time, but I’m getting the help I need, and I’m going to get better. I’m so sorry for being so ugly to you. You didn’t deserve it.”
By the end of her speech, she was crying, and I got up to embrace her.
“It couldn’t have been easy to grow up with the guys your whole life and not love them. It wouldn’t be a far leap to even fall
in love with them. They really are the greatest.” I hugged her close. “Well, the jury’s still out on Linc, but the other six are amazing. I know what it’s like to take your anger and hurt out on others, and I forgive you, Jemmy. And if you want, I can try to keep my distance from Gavin, even though, like you said, he is my best friend, besides you.”
Jemmy snorted in between her tears. “I couldn’t do that to you and Gavin, because I know you both need to get away from family and vent sometimes. And Lincoln… you’ve already enchanted him.”
I laughed. “Hardly. He’s going to stick around for a little while, but who can blame him? He’s a man who enjoys acting for a living. This is probably the role of his life. He sees another world full of intrigue, mystery, and excitement. When the movie wraps up, he’ll leave and return to real life once more. And thank you for understanding about Gavin. He is someone I feel comfortable talking with when it comes to the guys.”
“No problem, and oh girl.” Jemmy sighed dramatically. “You didn’t see Lincoln the night you were singing with Ben and Gavin. He couldn’t take his eyes off of you. He’s never leaving, at least not for long. He’ll always come back.”
I groaned. “Whatever. Now, let’s go get our milkshakes and make some invitations.”
“Blake?” Jemmy said tentatively.
“Hmm?” I turned with my hand on the door.
“When do you plan to see Dr. Wong?” she asked as she looked down at her hands. “I mean, I know you hate shrinks, but he’s outstanding. He’s gifted like us. He’s really helping me.”
“I don’t need to see one.” I began to turn the door handle.
“Blake, you had a panic attack during the exercise the other day when the lights were cut off,” Jemmy said quietly. “Imagine if it was a real mission and the guys couldn’t help you? You need to face your demons before they swallow you whole, or worse, cause you to affect the mission negatively."
Her words hit home. I knew I wasn’t getting better. The demons that plagued my nightmares were chasing me in the light of day. Eventually, I feared they might catch me, and if they did, I dreaded that they’d try and drag me down.
?
I felt like I barely fell asleep before there was a knock on my door.
“Who is it?”Jace mumbled beside me.
“It’s me,” Alex called through the door. “We need your help.”
I sat up and quickly slipped on my tank top and boy shorts. I rushed to the door. “What’s wrong?” I asked as I opened the door.
“It’s Harry,” he said hesitantly as he bit his lip. “He’s afraid again.”
I looked behind him just as Jace slipped his arm around my waist from behind. “Where is he, buddy?”
“He’s at home, but I don’t know what happened. I can’t close the door,” Alex shifted from foot to foot.
“What’s going on?” Remy asked as his door opened along with Lincoln’s. When his eyes fell on Alex, he looked back down the hall. “Where’s Pops and Megan, little man?”
“I came over by myself. I didn’t want to wake them up. I didn’t want to wake you up but Harry’s afraid, and the door won’t close.” Alex looked like he was afraid he may get yelled at.
“You’re not in trouble, Alex. It’s alright you did the right thing. What door are you talking about?” Lincoln asked.
“When I see in people’s heads,” Alex slowly explained, “it’s like I open the door. When I get out of their head, the door closes. Harry’s didn’t close. He started to have a bad…dream, and I didn’t even have to look. It was already open. It woke me up.”
I sighed. Wasn’t seven almost eight too young to carry so much baggage? “Okay, so we have to figure that one out, but first let’s go see if we can help him.”
“Let me throw on a shirt,” Lincoln agreed as he went back into Jace’s room.
I was wondering when Lincoln was going to get tired of hopping beds. If he planned to stay here for a little while, I was wondering if we should figure out another arrangement. I shook my head. I really needed to focus on the issue at hand.
“Let’s go, little man,” Jace said, swooping Alex up.