JP

Twenty six hours. Twenty six hours was the amount of time I spent awake after that night, and I started to not feel human anymore after hour nineteen. With only the small amount of sleep I had stored, two cups of black coffee and loud music I managed to push through it.

This often happened after my nightmares. I did not sleep, or even eat for long periods of time following them. The worst part was always the aftermath and not the nightmare itself. Around hour eleven Aunt Katherine barged into my room, stopping when she noticed me wrapped up in a blanket on my bed.

"Jay, I was worried when I didn't hear you get up this morning," Aunt Katherine said, coming over to me and stroking my greasy hair down. "What's the matter, baby?"

Aunt Katherine could sleep through a natural disaster, so it was not a surprise that she did not hear the commotion from that night. She placed a hand on my sweaty back, soon pulling away her hand and studying the sweat beads left behind on her palm.

"Oh, god..." She breathed, sitting beside me. "You poor thing. Did you have a nightmare?"

Aunt Katherine knew about my nightmares from my Grandma, with the contact they had after my Mother's death. Katherine and my Father Paul never really got along and she never wanted my Mother to marry him, so they rarely spoke. At least this was what my Grandmother told me when I lived with her for two years after it all happened, but she too found herself sick in the hospital and passed away which left me in my Father's care.

He lost the original custody battle because he started to drink after my Mother passed on, and his job required him to travel eighty percent of the time. It was ruled that Paul Beckett was unfit to take care of me, and I was placed in my Grandmother's home. The second time around I was automatically given to him due to the fact that he briefly cleaned up his act, and obtained a new position in his company that did not require him to travel.

"Yeah," I croaked, my throat dry and raspy.

"Baby, you need to drink some water," Aunt Katherine insisted.

"Coffee," I corrected, refusing to fall asleep again and relive my Mother's death a second time that day.

Aunt Katherine looked sad, but didn't argue with me. She disappeared then returned some minutes later with a mug full of coffee for me. She helped me sip from the cup, watching me with helpless eyes.

"Maybe you should take a shower, love. It'll make you feel better," she suggested, and I knew she was hinting at the fact that I smelled like sweat.

"I know, I stink."

"No, no...it's not that," Aunt Katherine said, shaking her head at my statement.

She soon exited the room, and I was left alone once again. On hour eighteen I decided to shower, only because it would wake me up a bit. As the water dripped off my body I felt somewhat better, knowing Aunt Katherine was right.

Thinking back to when my Grandmother was still alive, she used to let me sleep on her floor or sometimes even in her bed when I would tremble at night and have bad dreams. She would apologize profusely, blaming herself for what I'd seen though I never did. She was in a state of panic herself, and allowing me to see what I had was a complete accident. My Grandmother may have fucked up, but she too was hurting and afraid.

"Thanks to you, my son will probably never live a normal life again." My Father's words towards my Grandmother in one instance rung in my mind.

"Paul, none of us are." My Grandmother was right. Everyone dealt with my Mother's death differently, and I could not think of a single combination of family members that fully got along with one another. Even my Grandma and I had our rough patches.

My Mother, Ada Beckett was the one thing that brought us all together, and she managed to also be the thing that tore us all apart.

My Father's side of the family was the worst. They blamed my Grandmother even more than my Father himself did, and they despised my Mother even before she was deceased. They had even convinced my Father to file for divorce from her, but he went back on it and decided to make their marriage work when my Mother found out she was pregnant with me. He always wanted me to have two parents in my life.

I guess he never really got his wish.

"Sweetie," Aunt Katherine called through the bathroom door, which made me jump. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine," I hollered back, using my towel to cover myself though she could not see through the door.

When hour nineteen hit around midnight, time felt like it was moving in slow motion. As I watched the television closely, the news outlining what Amelia and I did to the jail, the words all sounded long and drawn out.

Fuck, I felt so guilty about what happened. Amelia would for sure never speak to me again, but that did not stop me from reminiscing in the memories we created. She was special, and it was only then that I realized she deserved someone far better than me. Her words to me were true, I needed someone to stop me from looking back.

My thinking was flawed, and I mentally kicked myself for ever thinking that Amelia would hurt me all over again. No, she wanted to help me and she showed that in her touch when I awoke from my traumatizing slumber. Except I did not give her the time of day, and that was on me.

Breathing in and out, I shut off the tv and laid my head back. My adam's apple bobbed up and down, straining against my throat as it screamed for water.

I eventually obliged, almost passing out on the kitchen floor in front of my Aunt Katherine. She gasped, instantly springing into action and sitting me down at the kitchen table with a large glass of ice water.

"Drink, now," she demanded, being firm with me this time.

She seemed to be tired herself, but was not going to bed until I did. Little did she know there would be a while until that happened. Chugging down the water, Aunt Katherine nodded in approval before getting up and starting to cook even though it was very late.

"What are you doing?"

"Making you something to eat, you need it."

I groaned slightly, rocking my head in my hands as the entire room spun around in circles. My eyes tried to force themselves closed, and I muttered underneath my breath.

"Can I have more coffee?"

Though sighing, my Aunt agreed and made it for me. To be honest she made some decent coffee, and that was gone even before my food was finished. When she set down pasta in front of me, my stomach twisted. I was not exactly hungry, but I managed to eat some and that pleased her. Hour twenty-one and twenty-two were spent laying face down on my bed. My muscles felt weak, and I had no energy left to move so I just fell limp in that spot. 

Laying like that but flipped onto my back until hour twenty five, I attempted for the first time to fall asleep. Every time I closed my eyes, fear overcame me and they popped right back open. It was stupid, being scared to do something as simple as sleeping.

Gritting my teeth with frustration, I jumped out of bed and kicked the wall. Once, twice, then three times over to rid some of my anger. My body collapsed onto the floor after this, and after laying there for a good while the last thing that came into view was the clock reading seven thirty five.

Twenty six hours later, sleep invaded my brain and I was out like a light.

Amelia

Dressing myself in black pants and a white t -shirt that I'd been instructed by Layla to wear over text, I sighed. It was nerve racking starting a new job, and my hands shuddered with fear as I rearranged the hem of my shirt.

Blake just so happened to be at work too that day, he was a waiter at a fancy restaurant here and claimed he made bank in tips. I always rolled my eyes at his bragging, but I adored his goofiness. He was someone I could count on, and yesterday he'd comforted me with ice cream therapy.

Well, he basically scarfed down more than half the carton, and you'd think he was the one dealing with heartbreak. Sighing to myself, I never said anything about it because it amused me. I needed a good laugh.

Heading out the door, I started the walk down to Lawrence Hardware. It was warmer that day, the sky was clear and blue and my skin heated up which felt good to me. I always hated winter, and loved summer. Winter was a dark, gloomy time while summer was happy and sunny. I genuinely felt a little bit better in the warmer months, though of course my struggles never fully went away.

Once I arrived at the hardware store, Layla squealed with joy. She signaled for me to join her behind the counter, handing me a vest that had little patches on it. It was cute, and different from the one she was wearing. Both designs were unique, and I quickly pulled it over my t-shirt. Layla smiled, turning to the register.

"I'm gonna teach you everything you need to know about register," Layla said. "Now first off, customers can be kind of bitchy sometimes. Don't worry, I usually just give them Lawrence's number if they want to complain about something."

"Oh," I said stiffly, rubbing my arm as I looked over Layla's shoulder at the buttons she was pressing.

"Don't worry, Amelia. You're gonna do great."

Her words encouraged me, and she began to show me all the different buttons to press to ring someone up. It seemed fairly simple, and she made me practice ringing in a few items before saying she was going to give me a tour so I could help customers find things.

As soon as Layla and I started walking towards the merchandise, two cops came into the store and looked at us both. Layla shot me a glare that screamed just let me do all the talking. My entire body shook, and I apprehensively stood there with clammy hands and a dry throat.

"Good afternoon," The first cop said. "I don't mean to interrupt, but do either of you happen to know where the surveillance camera is located in this place?"

"It's up there, sir," Layla replied honestly, gesturing upwards above the register.

"Thank you much." The second cop nodded.

"Here let me grab you a ladder," Layla offered, walking into some back office for a moment while I was left alone with the police.

Naturally I felt uneasy, since the person the cops were searching for was right in front of them. Staring down at my shoes to ease the awkward unspoken tension, Layla finally returned with the ladder and held it while the bigger cop climbed up the steps and took down the camera.

Layla breathed out a small breath, and I knew she was relieved they took the entire camera and did not just start pressing buttons right there on the spot. The cops nodded to thank Layla, eyeing me before leaving the store with the camera.

The minute the door shut, Layla dropped the polite attitude. "I wonder how long it'll take those idiots to figure out that the camera is useless." she giggled, leading me to the back of the store and showing me everything with care.

Trying to act like I was interested, I said a few phrases here and there that showed engagement. Layla was not one to be easily fooled though, and she caught onto my act after a while. Setting down the wrench she had in her fist, her lips spread outwards into a cheeky smile.

"You're bored," Layla chuckled. "Come on, let's take a break." She was so skilled at reading people, even better than I had become over the years.

Layla led me into the back room she got the ladder from earlier, and I discovered it was a pretty pimped out break room. There were two blue couches, a large screen TV and even one of those fancy soda machines where you chose what you wanted on a screen.

She sat down on one of the couches, patting the space next to her. "Now, let's talk."

"About what?"

Layla sported a dumbfounded expression, shaking her head at me. "About what you did. Amelia, I meant it when I said you're amazing. People like us, we need someone to stand up for our rights. You have a lot of courage."

"Thanks," I breathed, tucking a flyaway strand of light brown hair behind my ear. "I just...I wanna change the way things are. This isn't a way to live."

"You're right," Layla agreed. "God knows there's so many things I'd like to do, but I'm afraid."

"Nothing wrong with that," I said, leaning over to place a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I'm afraid too, it's just that...my strength outweighs the fear. I have a vision, and even though I'm just some nineteen year old marked girl I want to make it happen."

"You're the most badass bitch I've ever met," Layla boasted, winking at me as I laughed. "And I don't want anything to change that."

For a moment, I considered mentioning JP to her, but decided against it by telling myself that he was out of the picture for good. I needed to forget, and that was final. My mind needed to stay clear and focused on the real task; changing Moonstone to better the lives of many.

"Nothing will," I whispered, though unsure of myself.

Just then the bell rang, signaling that there was a customer. Layla sighed heavily. "Well, I guess we better take care of that."

"I can try, it's good practice."

She smiled, tugging at her lip ring with her teeth for a moment. "Independent, that's a good quality to have."

"Yeah, and I'm never gonna let it get taken away from me."

-

authors note: This was the first chapter I've written that is from both of their perspectives. I hope you enjoyed, and I swear I love Layla more and more with each chapter I write.

thanks for reading! don't forget to comment & vote.