"When's Lincoln coming home?" Sadie whispered from under my arm. Both of us were sunken into the couch, a stray quilt from Sadie's room over our heads.

"Soon Sadie, soon." A bright light flashed through our shelter coaxing me to tuck my knees tighter into my chest. "Hopefully."

Sadie's blonde head hid itself against my side, preparing for the earth shattering boom we knew was to follow. In the meantime the wind howled and propelled itself against the fragile glass windows, a shower of rain joining in on the assault.

The light from my phone was the only comfort I had. The tiny device was super glued to my palm since the power had gone out two hours prior. It was now approximately 7:15 and getting progressively harder for me to keep my calm.

Screw April showers. Who needed May flowers anyways?

When the storm unleashed a round of gunfire I bit my cheeks to hold in my shriek. Sadie clutched tighter onto my sweat shirt and as much as I hated to admit it she was holding up a lot better than me. It was only the loud noise that frightened her, and for reasons I completely understood. I on the other hand was shaking in my ankle socks at the sight of the dingy clouds filtering over the sky.

I was in the midst of praising myself for staying calm when the blanket I was holding over the both of us was ripped away. A long, high pitched shriek emitted from both Sadie and I. In the dark, right in front of the couch, stood a hooded shadow.

It's A.

"Hey!" He shouted over our screaming. "Hey, calm down." The duet between Sadie and I failed to cease. "California! Shut up!" The nickname snapped me out of my instinct of flight. "Jesus, you two have a pair of lungs on you."

Relying on my phone again I aimed the flashlight application. Lincoln was in the process of shedding his drenched hood but paused to shield his eyes. "You're burning my retinas."

"Good!" I cheered maliciously. "You don't sneak up on people like that!" Still flustered from having him witness my freakout I grabbed the nearest pillow and whacked him.

"First you make my ears bleed, then you try to set my eyes on fire, and now you're savagely beating me. You're so violent. How did they let you work with children?" Annoyed at his doubt in my professionalism I attempted to strike him again. Contact was never made, however, since Lincoln managed to wrestle the cushion from my grasp.

"Why are you even home in the first place? Go back to work!"

"Such a slave driver aren't you?" Lincoln mused, pulling the pillow from my reach when I jolted for it. "Power's out all over town. I got sent home early."

While I was contemplating diving over Sadie for another thunder shook the house with a resounding boom. Sadie threw herself back at me the same time I reached out to snatch the sheet back from Lincoln. I was able to take cover once more but the resistance on the fabric reminded me of Lincoln's presence.

"Sadie, come out. The blanket's not going to make the thunder go away. I'll give you something better." Lincoln persuaded, dragging the quilt back off of us. His blackberry and a pair of earphones were already in his free hand.

Bending down, Lincoln plugged the earphones into his device. He browsed through for a moment and then slipped it into her small fingers.

Placing one bud in her ear he asked, "Better?" Sadie nodded in approval before Lincoln helped her with the other side. Her small frame sunk back into the couch, eyes focused on the tiny screen. After two hours of her jumping at the ruckus it was nice to see her content.

Lincoln draped the blanket over his sister, the two of us left with the sound of the treacherous rain. I was just starting to relax myself when Lincoln made his way past me on the couch.

"Where are you going?" I spoke up, a smidgen of panic brewing in my chest.

"Gonna grab a flashlight. Unless you want to sit in the dark once you phone battery dies?"

As Lincoln continued to move towards the door on the far side of the family room I scrambled for something to say. "From where?"

"The basement." He stated simply.

"But you don't have a light or anything. How are you meant to find it?" I pressed, checking my phone battery anxiously. It was beginning to run low at thirty-two percent.

"I should be able to manage, practically lived here all my life."

"I'm coming!" I shouted after him as he yanked open the entrance to the basement. "We can use my phone to look."

Lincoln gave me a perplexed look, probably unsettled by my outburst but said nothing nonetheless. In one fluid motion he stepped out of sight, behind the door and down the steps. I listened to the creaking as Lincoln descended into the dark. The light emitting from my palm was enough to illuminate the unfinished stairwell. It was creepier down there than it was up here with the storm. At least up here there was a bit of natural light from outside.

I was contemplating staying on the main floor with the at-ease Sadie while Lincoln blindly felt around for what was needed. That idea lasted a whole five seconds. Crashing from outside the sturdy brick walls forced me to make the first step.

In a pair of thin socks I moved down the steps, noise from the dusty wood transporting my mind into an unwanted scary movie. Batting away a horde of spider webs I dismounted the last step. The concrete slab beneath chilled me from the bottom up as I tiptoed around, listening as Lincoln rustled around in the dark.

The narrow hall-like room held more junk than the abandoned warehouse Lincoln disappeared to at least once a week. Dust caked boxes were piled halfway to the ceiling, along every wall. It looked like any other unfinished basement I'd ever been in.

With a lot more car memorabilia.

I followed the path, turning the corner when Lincoln hadn't come into sight yet. My eyes followed the pink instillation that peeked around boxes, lingering on the odd framed picture of a Mustang or Ferrari.

Lincoln was hunched over in the little nook that was around the bend. He dug in a few open boxes as he mumbled to himself about his mother never listening to him.

"Any luck?" I asked, coming up closer to shed some light.

"Not yet. I always told my mother we'd need these stupid things eventually, that we'd need them upstairs. But no, she had to throw them with the unused camping crap." He huffed, piling onto a tower of boxes to get to the one underneath.

It was silent again. Lincoln's shuffling was the only thing I could hear now. Even the storm seemed nonexistent.

"Somebody really has a thing for cars." I commented, my eyes straying from the task at hand and onto a showcase of RC cars hidden in the corner.

Lincoln didn't answer.

"Were they yours?" I question absentmindedly, trying to get myself to stop checking over my shoulder.

"No."

"Your dad's?" The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them.

"That would explain our names, wouldn't it? He's so obsessed with the stupid things he even named his children after them."

I mauled over that, scanning around the basement at all the car related scraps.

"He left all of his stuff here? Did he not move out a while ago?"

He moved another box out of the way. "He always made it seem that he was coming back to my mom. It kept her more open to giving him money every month when he came, 'cause she thought there was still something there. He pretty much just uses this shithole as storage. Who knows where he's even at now?"

Attempting to make myself comfortable I lowered myself on a smaller stack of boxes. It seemed like finding the torch was going to take longer than expected.

"Move the light more this way?" Lincoln requested. In compliance I raised my arm to aim over his bent frame.

I watched him as he continued to search, his hands digging through packed containers of unneeded stuff. I examined his body, his muscles working to move around the heavier objects. My gaze continued down his back before inching up towards his face. There was a barely noticeable scar raised against his temple. It was light, almost pinky, flesh that contrasted with the dark umber of his hair.

"Where'd you get that one from?"

"Huh?" Lincoln paused his excavation to lend me his attention.

I motioned towards my own temple. "This scar here? Is that from The Pit too?"

"Oh," his hand felt around the patch I was referring to. "No. Got it from that fight with Silva you stupidly tried breaking up." Having answered my question he turned back to the task at hand.

"What is it with you two?" I pressed. "What could you possibly have done to him for him to hate you so much?"

An unhumored laugh escaped his lips. "Would you believe it if I told you we were friends before?"

"Not really, no."

"Well, we were." He seal up a failed container, searching for another possible hiding spot.

Curiosity was getting the best of me. "What happened?"

Lincoln seemed unsure, almost like he didn't know if he wanted to open that can of worms for me. "I almost landed him in juvie."

"I'm sure you had a reason." I insisted, not wanting to believe that Lincoln was capable of doing something like that maliciously.

"I did."

Silently, I pleaded with my eyes for him to continue. He sighed, complying as he found another box to open up. "It was two years ago at some stupid after prom party we'd gotten invited to. I was in the kitchen with Drew when Silva came in pretty bummed about this senior girl he'd been trying to get with for weeks before. She wasn't giving him the time of day and it was really starting to get to him. I knew he was pretty desperate to sleep with her, she was probably one of the more attractive girls in her grade, but I didn't realize just how desperate."

Lincoln fiddled with some old children's toys he unpackaged. "He started getting angry about it, calling her a tease. Said she deserved what was coming for her and pulled a baggy out of his pocket. I didn't even have to ask to know what it was and with the amount of alcohol in his system I knew he wouldn't even second guess himself.

"When I told him I wasn't going to let him do it he flipped his shit. Started going off on me, saying I was a shitty friend for not letting him forcefully get with the girl he'd been chasing forever. I tried convincing him this wasn't what he wanted to do. He did it anyways."

In awe I listened to the tale, evil storm forgotten. Lincoln had found the flashlight, but just stood there, weighing it in his hand as he continued.

"When I found out he managed to slip it into her drink I sort of lost it. We broke into a brawl in the living room. Literally turned that whole section of the house into a fighting arena. Andrew stuck with the girl. I don't remember her name anymore, it never really mattered before that night. Anyways," He managed, shaking a stray thought from his mind. "the cops showed up not even twenty minutes later. Silva and I had been at it that whole time. The party was broken up and both of us were taken down to the station. Silva was getting what was coming to him for attempted rape and they kept me around due to some past criminal charges."

"You have a criminal record?" I gawked, Lincoln's life was more interesting than one of those soap operas my mother obsessed over.

"Nothing major. Maybe... I don't know. It was back when things were really bad."

"With fighting?"

"No, here. We were hardly making it by." Lincoln recalled appearing frustrated with this portion of his life. "Got busted for breaking and entering a few times. It was just to help out, before I found The Pit. I swear I'm not some punk-ass delinquent by choice."

Giving him a look of understanding I nodded. "I get it."

Lincoln mimicked my actions, cutting off the small amount of eye contact being made. He was ready to clam up again. I wanted to make sure that didn't happen. Not yet.

"Silva got off scot-free?" I inquired, hoping the answer was no.

"When your father's some fancy-pants lawyer with connections it's hard to get justice where it's due." Tilting my head, I urged him on. "His father wasn't allowed to cover his case, conflict of interest, but he made damn sure his son had the best lawyer in the country to save his ass."

"So the asshole ended up getting away with it?"

"A lot of sick bastards do." Regret was clearly expressed on his features.

Hating seeing him beat himself up I slid down from my perch. "Hey," I spoke softly, placing a hand on his arm. "You did what you could. You stopped him that night. That in itself was an amazing act on your part. He'll get his. Karma's a bitch."

"Yeah."

"He's still holding it against you though?" I asked, trying to clear my head of his scent. The small space of a basement wasn't helping.

Clipped laughter emitted from him, the subtle vibrations under my hand reminding me I should let go. "His father's been on his back ever since. No one wants the neighbourhood to think of your son as a rapist. According to him I've ruined his life."

"Are you kidding me? If anything you saved him."

"Try convincing him of that."

"Maybe I should." I huffed, annoyed Silva was taking his stupidity out on Lincoln.

With a hint of a smile Lincoln waggled the flashlight in front of me. "Got what we came for." He was about ready to turn when the abundance of model cars reminded me of a thought.

"Hey Lincoln?" I called out as I followed him out of the tight basement.

"Mmhm?"

"Does Silva know about your... situation?"

"What situation?" He paused at the base of the stairs, his own flashlight guiding him.

"With your parents? That day you guys almost fought, at the side of the school? He seemed like he knew something."

"He knows shit all. Just likes to make it seem like he does. He's probably got a hunch. I wouldn't be surprised if he knows bits and pieces from his father. The bastard probably went into every police related file about me to try and clear his son's name." An amused smile made its way on his face as he shook his head. "You're the only person outside my family who knows the whole story. You have a lot of firsts under your belt California."

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

"The first person dumb enough to stick around and tutor me. The first person mindless enough to break into my house. The first of my friends to meet my mom. The first person, besides my mother, that I've trusted alone with my sister." Lincoln unleashed a heart thumping smirk. "The first girl I've ever allowed in my room."

A volcano of butterflies erupted in my stomach.

What on earth was Lincoln Pierce doing to me?

"So many firsts California, so many firsts."

Without so much as another word Lincoln made his way back up the creaky steps. If the unfinished floor didn't freak me out so badly I probably would have stayed frozen in my spot but nevertheless I jogged up after him, afraid of the creepy crawlies hiding below.

Sadie was still engulfed in the YouTube videos Lincoln provided her with. When she spotted her brother and I she removed one of the earbuds. "This one's funny."

"Yeah?" Lincoln mused. "Lemme see."

Staying a few steps behind Lincoln I observed as Sadie shared the phone with her big brother, pointing and laughing when something funny came up. Lincoln smiled along, probably laughing at his sister's reaction more so than the video.

The roar of thunder broke me out of my peaceful mindset.

"I should probably head home." I interrupted causing the two to look up from their video.

"No! Stay!" Sadie protested, ripping the other earphone out.

"I shou—" The resounding chaos outside had me flinching.

Lincoln switched his attention from the wide family room window back to me. "It's still down pouring out there. Stay until everything starts dying down, then I'll let you leave."

"You trying to say you refuse to let me go home?" My brow rose in challenge.

"That's exactly what I'm saying. Your shift ain't over yet." He grinned, patting the seat next to him on the thick sofa.

"I don't get paid enough for this..." I joked causing Lincoln to give me a dry stare. Sticking out my tongue I slipped in beside him, taking note of the America's Funniest Home Videos selection playing on the screen.

"Can we hide back in the fort again?" Sadie asked. "That was fun."

Lincoln peered down at the little girl next to him. "What fort?"

Ditching the phone Sadie jumped down from the couch and snatched up the heavy quilt. Wrestling with it a bit she managed to yank it up onto the couch, handing it off to her brother. "This one. Cali and I made it before you broke it."

Realizing his sister's attempt at guilt tripping Lincoln gave into her request. "Alright, alright." He repeated, tossing the blanket up over our heads. "Better?"

"Mmhm." Sadie snuggled up to him content.

Despite how large the sheet was, it was still a tight fit with all three bodies underneath. I was about to uncover myself when Lincoln's arm wrapped around the back of the couch, pulling me in closer. Not expecting the gesture my body remained rigid. His thumb stroked my shoulder soothingly, his touch making the storm melt away from my mind. Without permission my deceitful torso leaned into him, my head resting on his broad shoulder.

I take back what I said earlier. I love April.