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“As I thought. Now quiet, everyone is asleep,” he says, pushing the door open.

I walk in, and the house is in complete darkness. Eli grabs my hand, walking through the house with ease toward my bedroom before opening the door.

“That you, Adeline?” I hear my mother call out from her room down the hall.

I walk to her door, opening it. “Yeah, ma,” I tell her.

“Taylor has been up a few times. I gave her some sleeping pills. Maya knows she is here,” my mother says tiredly.

“I can stay up with her,” I tell her, but my mother shakes her head.

“No, she leaves. Honestly, I am just tired of it. We can’t help if she doesn’t want help. We will see how she is in the morning if she hasn’t snuck out by then.”

“Ada?” I hear Maya’s soft voice behind me as she walks down the hall, rubbing her eyes and cuddling into her plushie.

“Hey, did I wake you?” I ask her, and she nods as I pick her up.

“Is Mr. Eli staying here?” she yawns.

“Eli is here?” my mother asks, and he pushes the door open slightly, giving her a wave.

“Hi, Debbie,” he says.

“Just try not to be too loud in there,” she tells him, and he chuckles.

“Noted,” he says as my mother lies down, flicking her lamp off.

“Come, I will tuck you back in,” I tell Maya.

“I want to sleep with grandma,” she says, and Eli opens her door.

My mother hears Maya and pulls the blanket back, and I place her in bed with her before kissing her head and walking out. Eli walks back to my room while I go to the spare bedroom, cracking the door open and looking in.

My sister is still asleep, and I quietly close the door before walking back to my room. Eli hangs his suit on the back of the door in my wardrobe.

I grab my pajamas out of the drawer before heading to the bathroom to get changed. When I return, Eli is sitting on the end of my bed with only his shorts on. I pull the blanket back, climb in bed, and move closer to the wall.

“Keep your hands to yourself,” I tell him, turning and facing away from him.

He doesn’t listen; instead, he lies down and pulls me against him, the heat of his body seeping into me.

He sighs. “You will have to get used to sleeping in our bed anyway. There will be touching,” he says, ignoring me trying to wriggle away from him and pulling me closer.

* * *

The next morning, my sister and mother are screaming the place down, and I awake with a jolt. Eli moves so quickly, he is dressed in a matter of seconds while I bolt for the door, knowing exactly how violent my sister can become when she comes down off drugs. Running past a screaming Maya, I dart down the stairs and into the kitchen.

“Give me the keys, mom!” Taylor screams at her; she is only in her underwear and a singlet. My mother is on one side of the table, and my sister is screaming on the other side.

“Enough, you are scaring Maya,” I call out.

My sister turns her attention to me. “This is your fault. Why would you bring me here? Give me your keys, Adeline, now. I am going back home!” she screams before stalking toward me.

She hits me, and I shove her back. Maya screams, and I see Eli has picked her up out of the corner of my eye before walking away. Taylor grabs my hair, making me scream out. My mother races over, trying to separate us.

“Stop it! Let her go, Taylor!” my mother screeches out of breath.

“Give me the fucking keys, and I will be gone!”