It doesn't get any better than this, sleeping in bed with Sasha while she wears my shirt. I've been awake now for a while but I just don't want to leave. She's pressed right up against me, she looked exhausted last night so I know she's definitely in the middle of a deep sleep.

I know how tired she's been lately, Sasha hasn't been getting enough sleep for ten years. She's been pushed to develop and practically evolve into this super-human. But she's just a normal girl who can't take pressure like that.

I lay with her for a while resisting the urge to play with the ends of her hair, or run my hand down her arm. I didn't want to disturb her when she looked so peaceful.

I knew that I needed to get back to my own room before mom figured out I'd come across the hall with her last night. I was laying awake and I just couldn't sleep knowing what she'd been through yesterday. But I don't regret one bit of it, it was exactly what I wanted.

I quietly slide out of her arms and then open the door peaking my head out then closing it and rushing across the hall to my own room. I sigh and check my phone seeing I had a few messages and phone calls. I toss it back knowing I can deal with them later, when I hear a knock at my door.

"Come in!" I call back and see my mom poke her head in and I suddenly feel relieved I decided to leave when I did.

"Oh good you're up." She says and walks in. "Look, I'm about to head off to take your father to the airport and then I'm heading downtown to do some work in my office. I should be home around dinner time."

"Cool, I'll see you later then." I tell her and she worriedly looks across the hall at Sasha's closed door.

"How is she doing?" She asks and I sigh with a shrug.

"She's hurting mom." I tell her very honestly. "Despite the fact that her father has been awful to her for years, she knows they're her family. She's having a hard time reconciling the fact that her parents don't treat her with love when they're supposed to." She nods and then steps closer lowering her voice.

"That mark on her head......" She says and then takes a deep breath. "Did her father-"

"She said he hit her so hard she fell to the ground and hit her face on a barstool in the kitchen on the way down." I mumble and her eyes widen.

"Why didn't you say that?" She asks. "If I'd have known there wouldn't have been a question of if she could stay with us."

"Because it's not something she's proud to share with other people." I remind her. "Mom Sasha isn't good at getting help when she needs it, she finds it hard to admit when she can't deal with something alone. That's why I knew it was so serious, the fact that she's scared enough to leave her house is a big deal."

"Alright.....don't leave her alone today, spend some time with her and make sure she feels comfortable here." She tells me and I nod.

"No problem, you know Sasha and I get along mom." I remind her and she nods then looks at her watch.

"Sorry honey I need to run." She says and gives me a kiss on the cheek. "Be nice to her." I roll my eyes and laugh.

"I will, I promise." I tell her and she smiles.

"Maybe put a shirt on, it might make her uncomfortable." She says waving her finger at me and I laugh knowing how Sasha reacted last night. But I humour her putting one on, and she smiles waving and I say goodbye to my dad as the two of them leave for the day.

Then I go back across the hall and open her door, seeing blonde hair fanned every which way over the pillows. I lift the covers and crawl back in behind her and she stirs a bit. She rolls over and smiles looking at me.

"Hey." I say quietly and she laughs.

"Hey." She whispers back and moves closer so she can put her arms around me. I almost melt from that alone, she's too cute.

"Is everything okay?" I ask and she nods and then moves her hands over my shirt and gives me a confused look.

"Why'd you put this on?" She pouts and I laugh.

"Mom said I should put one on around you, to make sure it doesn't make you uncomfortable." I tell her and she smiles. "But if you prefer me without it....." I tease and pull her over me so we sit up together. While she sits over me I pull the shirt over my head and toss it away. "Then I aim to please." She turns a bit red with an embarrassed smile and I smile too. I love when I can make her feel that way.

She quietly moves her hands to my shoulders and starts pressing her palms over my body. She looks fascinated and I let her have her way, enjoying the way her hands feel. I move my hands to her thighs feeling the smooth skin under my hands and she presses her lips together, resting her forehead on mine.

She meets my eyes and what happens next completely surprises me. She takes my hands and moves them up to hold onto her waist under the shirt. I can feel her thin underwear under my fingertips and my thumbs move to the space under her bellybutton. She takes a shaky breath with a small smile and I smile too. I'm just trying not to combust on the spot, she's every bit what I thought she would be.

"So I have news." I whisper quietly.

"What is it?" She asks leaning in so close her nose touches mine.

"Everyone's gone for the day today." I whisper and I feel my lips brush over hers. "It's just you and me."

"I wouldn't want it any other way." She whispers back and presses her lips to mine. I smile into the kiss and pull her closer sliding my fingers into her hair. She wraps her arms around the back of my neck and I feel instant relief. We hadn't kissed since a week and a half ago, I thought I'd ruined it all and she'd never want to do this again. I'm lost in the moment and so is she, and I take a second to just enjoy it.

Unfortunately that moment is cut short when my phone starts going off. I look over and see a number I don't recognize running across it. I look back at her and her eyes shoot open looking worried.

"What?" I ask reaching over to my phone. "Do you know the number?"

"It's Alex's." She says quietly.

"Do you want me to answer it?" I ask and she sighs with a small nod.

"C-can you put it on speaker though?" She asks and I nod, leaning in to kiss her forehead. I slide the bar on the screen over and swap it to speaker taking a deep breath.

"Hello?"

"Hey Carter, it's Alex." I hear over the other end. "I'm trying to track my sister down, she and my dad got into a huge fight last night. He apparently thought she was joking about the whole running away thing but....she's still not back yet." He says sadly. "I've called Micheal, Irene, all the other girls from her club, her coaches....nobody's seen her. She left her cell here so I can't call her and I-I'm just....starting to worry.

"I had to track down your number from somewhere because it wasn't in Sasha's phone." He says and I furrow my eyebrows looking at her. She shakes her head and holds up her hand letting me know she'll discuss it with me shortly. "I got in contact with Jake but he was being his usual dick self and wouldn't give it to me. I called a bunch of people in the hope....well if I know Sasha, she'll go where she feels safe. Is she with you? Or have you heard from her?"

I mute the call and look at her, seeing her big eyes staring back at me. She looks upset and I cup the side of her face.

"Do you want me to tell him you're here?" I ask and she sighs.

"Only if he'll keep it to himself." She says and I nod taking the call off mute.

"Aren't your parents looking for her?" I ask and he sighs.

"Carter, my parents are too proud to admit they made a damn mistake right now. I've been up all night trying to figure out where she went and she took her scrapbook with her." He says and I look at Sasha seeing her cheeks flame. "I just want to know if she's alright." She grabs my arm gives me a quiet nod, letting me know I can tell him.

"She's fine." I say quietly. "She stayed in our guest room last night, came here with a nasty gash on her forehead." I tell him bitterly. "But she's safe and my mom has given her permission to stay with us as long as she needs to."

"S-so she's there?" He asks sounding hopeful.

"She is." I tell him and I hear an audible sigh on the other end.

"Thank god, I didn't have a clue where to look next." He says. "Do you know if she's up? Can you see if she wants to talk to me?" He asks sounding more desperate now over the phone.

"She's up, I can go ask alright? But if she says no, you can't just show up here anyway. She needs to work through this on her own terms and forcing yourself into the situation isn't going to make anything better."

"Alright, I understand." He says quietly and I mute the call again.

"What do you want?" I ask and she sighs.

"I just don't know if this is a great idea, he'll want to talk to me about skating and stuff going on at home. Maybe I should wait until Monday.....but he sounded worried." She says suddenly. "He didn't do anything wrong, maybe just for a little bit."

"Do you want me to go?" I ask and she shakes her head.

"No stay, I want you here with me." She says and I nod passing her my phone.

"H-hey Alex." She says quietly.

"Sash, thank god." He sighs. "Is everything alright?"

"I'm fine." She says cooly.

"Look dad-"

"I'd really rather not talk about it right now." She says cutting Alex short. "I don't care what's going on at home, I'll bet they're pretending one of their children goes missing every other week. I don't want to deal with it yet."

"Okay, okay." He says quietly. "I'm sorry alright? I tried to go after you but you were too fast."

"I'm alright Alex." She tells him. "I am. I just need to sort myself out before I deal with any of this."

"Alright, I'll leave you to think a bit alright?" He says. "I just wanted to hear your voice." I watch as a single tear runs over her cheek and she smiles. "See you at school?"

"Definitely." She tells him. "I love you."

"I love you too, I'm glad you're okay." He says.

The two of them share a quick goodbye and then she passes the phone back to me. I wrap my arms around her pulling her to lay down with me again. She takes a deep breath and wraps around me completely bringing me as close as possible.

I was all I she had left now. It was just me and her against the world, just the way it was when we were little. Just having her here made me more relaxed, it made me feel like my own life wouldn't be going down in flames on Monday morning.

"I-I do have your number in my phone." She says quietly after a while. "Before dad made me give it up I deleted our calls, messages, I signed out of my social media and I changed your name in my phone. I didn't want him to have proof of anything, I figured it could have added gasoline to the fire." I nod quietly and rub my hands over her back.

"Good thinking." I say quietly. "Let's do something today, me and you." I suggest trying to get her mind off of everything that happened yesterday.

"Like what?" She asks furrowing her eyebrows.

"Like go to the movies, or go out to eat. Something fun and easy." I suggest and she smiles giving me a quiet nod.

"I'd like that." She says quietly. "Can we stay here for a while? Just like this, I don't want to get out of bed yet."

"Of course we can." I say quietly knowing I secretly didn't want to get up yet either. "I'd stay here with you forever if I could."

Together we laid in bed for the better part of the morning, talking quietly and enjoying the comfort that came from being wrapped around the other one. This felt absolutely perfect.