You could hear the quiet breaths of my little sister already fallen asleep... I'd been thankful for that, at least one of us would be getting a decent rest. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't find peace, nor comfort in a nap. Even when that's all I really wanted.

The day just seemed to drag on. It was one thing after another constantly. I wanted some type of relief, even if it was just temporary... Although none would come. So instead I sat alone in silence, Concentrating on the sound of rain hitting the ceiling of the treehouse.
Thankfully the treehouse was concealed, just enough. Only a drop or two would seep through the walls, and drip onto the floor. On any other day the sound of rain would be complete bliss. Today was a total different story though. Everything that had happened ruined that feeling.
I held my knees to my chest trying my best to hold myself together. It shouldn't have been such a huge surprise that she was gone. But I'd seen it, I saw that innocent look in her eyes, right before the bullet pierced the air, her body hitting the ground, blood soaking her wavy-blonde hair. My mom was gone now, and I couldn't do anything about that fact.

I felt so small though, like I could never do anything for her. Like I was the biggest coward in the whole world. I shouldn't have stayed all those years, I should've been looking for her. Maybe she'd still be alive if I had looked. I could've protected her, and maybe we could've been a family again.

Although five years had gone gone by with no sign of anybody, so I had no choice but to believe that they were gone. If my mom had been alive... Then maybe my dad and brother were too. I felt hope.

It was well past midnight by now, yet there was still no sign of Matt since the last time I'd seen him. I couldn't even begin to think about what I'd do if he'd somehow gotten hurt. I did my best to keep my mind off of him. He'd be okay, he always was, but nonetheless, I wouldn't feel at ease until he showed up.

I was starting to get cold, my hands were shaking as I cuddled closer up inside my jacket. I was trying to shield myself from the chilly air. I'd already tucked Katrina in for the night. Meaning I'd been left with just my thin jacket to keep me warm, I didn't really mind it though. If one of us had to be cold I would've wanted it to be anyways. Soon enough, I was starting to drift off. My eyes were heavy, my vision blurred, and I was having trouble keeping my eyes open.

That didn't last too long though... It was quiet, but you could hear the click of a latch, and some struggling to remove it without a key. Whoever had been on the other side of the 'door' had to have known what they were doing, because only seconds later the latch swung wide open making me jump to my feet. You couldn't really blame me for lunging to the floor where I'd hidden my knife. My hands were shaking, but nonetheless I cleared my head and tried to focus completely on my target. Only seconds later a head popped up through the wooden floor where the latch stood, as reflex I swung my hand back to throw, but a familiar voice stopped me.

"Woah woah, Des, calm down. It's just me." The voice rushed, and almost as if instantly that made me drop my hunting knife with one quick movement of my hand.

Knowing it was safe to come inside now, Matt placed down a medium sized cardboard box next to the opening. He then pulled himself into the house with a quick movement. He turned to push down the heavy metal slack, and made sure it was still locked.

His sapphire orbs were now watching my light blue eyes. I must've been pale, almost as white as a ghost. I mean damn, I so easily could've stabbed him just seconds ago, and here he was, still not afraid of me. You couldn't really blame my hands shaking as I stood completely still not moving even half an inch, I'd been afraid to make even the slightest of movement. It was like I couldn't trust myself to do anything anymore.

"Are you okay?" Matt whispered still looking straight at me. I only managed to nod slightly, before I was able to get over the initial shock of the whole situation.
Hesitantly I took a shaky breath. "I don't know what's wrong with me Matt." I looked to the floor, not making any eye contact whatsoever. "I'm crazy."

He shook his head from side to side, suddenly wrapping me into a tight hug, almost squeezing the air out of me. It wasn't uncomfortable, infact, in some weird way... It actually felt nice, like someone cared enough to just be there for me. Just to exist with me for a second. "No you're not." He whispered in a shaky tone, not willing to unwrap his arms for a second or two. Slowly I pulled away after that familiar warm sensation followed his arms, it was as if somehow, relief came to me almost instantly. I Looked to the ground, still feeling the intense gaze Matt continued to hold on my face.

"I worry about you..." He admitted after a second. I brought my eyes to his and just held his gaze in my eyes until he continued. "It's nothing I can really explain you know? It's just, you've gone through so much terrible shit, and hell I have too, but you never really sleep, and when you do, it's only for maybe a couple of hours, and after what happened today-" His voice was started to get strained, I couldn't just stand there watching that.

"Matt." I whispered as quietly as I possibly could. It was a surprize he could even hear me in the first place, nonetheless his eyes focused on me, and immediately he seemed to calm down a tiny bit. Although you could still see the worry and tension deep inside of his eyes as he continued to stare back at me. "I'm completely fine, you know that." I bit my lip and strolled into the kitchen. Matt followed me after a short second of hesitation. I didn't say anything as I sat down on the counter and stared at him.

Believe it or not, this tended to happen all of the time. One person would say something, and silence would just surround us. It wasn't the awkward kind of silence either, it was somehow comfortable, it was familiar, and I liked that. Although silence doesn't last forever, no matter how much you'd like it to.

Matt cleared his throat which brought my attention back to him. "I got something for you." I didn't know whether he was trying to change the subject from before, or just break the silence, either way it was enough to bring a small smile to my face.

"Really now? What in the world could have you gotten me?" I questioned, curiosity burning at my throat as I continued to smile at him.

"Nothing really special." Matt started with a small smile. His hand searching through his jean pockets. He pulled his hand away, and I was able to catch a glint of a shiny chain. The glimpse was short, but it was enough to notice a goldish tint. Matt's hand clasped around the chain and he looked at me, as if mocking. "Close your eyes" He instructed.

"Woah, woah, calm down now Mr. Business." I joked, but matt continued to plead with his eyes. "Come on matt, I don't wanna." I whined.

"Do you not trust me?" His voice was barely above a whisper, and his eyes continued to hold a concerned glance.

"No, why in the world would I, Destiny McCaterson, ever trust Matthew Doorhan, a clumsy soldier." I said sarcastically, which received a quiet chuckle.

"You're difficult sometimes, we both know that I'm not clumsy." Matt responded ever so calmly. His smile had been the best thing I'd seen all day. I knew he was one of the best soldiers they had on the field, and obviously he had to know that to. In some way it was like Matt was a commander, every soldier around his age listened to him. Matt was smart, he was quick, and observant. I wish that I could've said the same for myself. Sure, I had my strong points, but Matt? There was no beating that.

"I'm still not closing my eyes." I continued.

Matt let out a breath, obviously irritated at my decision to not listen to him. I was the only person who ever did that too, no one was ever stupid enough to disobey Matt's orders. But obviously, I'd known him way longer than any of the others. I knew he'd never hurt me, he'd only get a little annoyed. "Fine" Matt gave up after a second of hesitation. I guess he finally realized that I wasn't going to budge at that moment, because he stepped closer to me. "I found this, and I don't know, It just somehow made me think of you."

Suddenly, the room seemed to get a bit hotter, it felt as if my face was on fire. Why did he have such an affect on me? I lowered my eyes and focused on the ground trying to hide my face from him. After a few seconds of calming myself down; I looked back up, and stared deeply into his sapphire eyes. "What is it?" I asked.

Matt smirked but nonetheless, he emptied the contents from his hand on the counter beside me. What I saw was absolutely breathtaking, I couldn't take that from Matt, it had to have been worth so much money. The chain was a expensive white gold tint, and the locket connected to it, was also the same color.Although the front of the lock had a unique web-like design surrounding it.

"Matt, no I can't take this." I stuttered while looking at the beautiful necklace. "It's so expensive, you could live easily for a couple years if -"

"Destiny, It's for you. I want you to keep it." Matt said interrupted, before I could continue to finish my thought.

"No Matt, I can't just-"

"Just take it. Please." Matt once again interrupted, as much as I cared about the poor guy, he was getting on my nerves. I hated that I never got to finish my sentence when I was around him, it was like he was interrupting me. One the other hand, sometimes it felt like he was the only person that I could trust with my thoughts. I don't know, but for some reason I felt like I had to take it.

"Fine, I'll take it, Doormat." I said humorously, which only made Matt roll his eyes. "Woah, watch out there man, you could get your eyes stuck that way, and you'd never be able to see again."

"It may not be such a bad thing," Matt chuckled. "I mean never again would I have to see that ugly face of yours."

"Come on Matt," I huffed, while crossing my arms, pretending to be hurt. "You know you love it."

Of Course, Matt didn't deny it... Although he also didn't accept it. I barely was able to catch the slight red tint against the back of his neck. He soon enough decided to change the subject at hand, not that I minded or anything. "Here, I'll help you put that on." His feet were slowly making there way towards me.
"I'm one hundred percent capable of doing that myself you know." I started with a monotone voice. This only made Matt hesitate for a millisecond, and if I hadn't know him so well I probably wouldn't have even caught the hesitation in his movement.

"Yeah, sure, but honestly I don't really care about that." He answered, while picking up the glittering necklace. You could see a smirk played across his lips when he focused on me, I don't know why but i loved that. I loved seeing him having a good time, especially after everything we'd gone through today. Therefore, I didn't stop him from doing what he was doing, I only stalled a bit.

"Well, that, that wasn't creepy at all." I whispered sarcastically, and gave a slight laugh under my breath.

You could hear matt chuckle, while pulling my light brown, hair to the side. All the ringlets of curls were probably in a tangled up mess, but that didn't really matter. All that seemed to matter at the time was how close Matt was to me. It for some reason was making my breath strained, and I was just hoping that he wouldn't notice that as he clipped the necklace around my neck. He backed away and almost instantly my breathing returned back to normal. When I looked down the necklace dangled to my chest. And getting a closer up look at the locket I was able to notice the tiny crystal hearts connected to the web design at the front.

"Matt, it's stunning." I whispered in awe. Matt didn't say anything, just watched me silently leaning against the wooden wall. I took one more close look at the locket in my hand, I looked at the edge of the locket. and tried to open it. It wouldn't. There was no way that thing would open for anything. "It's jammed?" I questioned.

Matt had a mischievous smile played on his lips, but remained in his spot. "No," He paused, trying to find the right words. "it's not jammed, but it's not going to open either."

"That doesn't make any since." I replied.
Matt just laughed at my response, and stared at the wall behind me. A softer look flashed through his face, but I couldn't read it. Fear maybe? I didn't know. "Some mail came in for you." He started in a soft whisper.

"Woah, woah, what!? Who could've even sent me mail?" I started in a hopeful tone, my eyes began to glow widely with hope.

"That's my exact thoughts." Matt rubbed his hands together, as if trying to keep himself busy. "The package was marked as 'Private' so I couldn't really give you any answers. This is all on you."

Curiosity already has the better end of me, "Well, where is it?" I tried my best not to show to much excitement with the whole ordeal. Odds are it wouldn't have been the person I was hoping that the package would be from. My father had no way to know where i was, neither did my brother. So who else could've?

Exactly... no one.

Matt's eyes focused somewhere else as if thinking. "I left it beside the latch." He stopped for a second. "I'll get it for you." I allowed this for once. I let him walk out of the kitchen, knowing he'd be back within a second or two. Still the question was burning at the back of my mind, and when Mate returned with a medium sized cardboard box, I froze.

"Here." He whispered, sliding the box across the counter in my direction.