Pieces of Camden (Hole-Hearted #1) Read Free

the fear, but he winces when I hold on to him too tightly.
    “I’m okay,” he reassures me.
    But I know better. He’ll never be okay as long as he lives with his mom and dad.
    “What did he do?” I ask, referring to his dad.
    His mom’s just as awful as his dad, but it’s usually his dad who delivers the beatings while his mom watches with a glass of wine in her hand.
    “Can we just lie down?” Camden looks at my bed with longing, his eyes unblinking, as he shrinks away from his reality.
    I already know I could never say no to him. No matter what he wants, my answer will always be yes.
    Take his hand in mine, I lead us to my bed where I climb in first and then scoot to the other side so that Camden has room to lie down. With slow movements, Camden gets into bed with me and lowers himself, hissing in pain as he lies flat on his back. My hand reaches for his again, and our fingers lock onto one another. My chest aches as I listen to Camden’s silent pleas, calling me, pulling me to him.
    “Tonight, can we play pretend?” he asks me.
    I nod even though I want to ask him about what hurt when I hugged him and again when he lay down.
    “What are we pretending?”
    “Tonight, I want to be a white knight in shining armor.”
    Sadness hits me. My amazing Camden—who’s already my white knight, braver than any other knight out there because he fights dragons every day—has no idea who he is.
    Playing along with him, I ask, “What’s your horse’s name?”
    His body shifts slightly, and pain temporarily crosses his face as he tries to readjust himself into a more comfortable position.
    “All knights have horses,” I explain. “So, what’s your horse’s name?”
    He thinks about it for a long time, and when he comes up with a name, a beautiful big smile spreads across his face, his eyes lighting with joy.
    “Stark,” he replies.
    I roll my eyes. “You can’t name your horse after Tony Stark.”
    “I just did.”
    “Whatever.” My eyes roll back again, but I lean my body closer to his so that my breath lands on his bruised cheek. “Do you and Stark save princesses?”
    “No.” He shakes his head once, disgust crossing his face before he faces me. “Saving people is stupid.”
    “What kind of knight doesn’t save people?” My brows furrow in question.
    Camden sighs and turns his attention to my ceiling. “Yan, in the real world, the knight doesn’t become a knight to save anyone but himself. No one cares about him or sees him until he becomes a knight.”
    Emotion crosses over his face, pain darkening his eyes. My face drains as I take in and absorb his words.
    “That’s not true, Cam.” I give his fingers, still interlaced with mine, a quick squeeze to make sure I have his attention. “I see him. I care.”
    Camden squeezes my fingers in return and then turns his whole body so that he’s lying on his side. His chest heaves from the pain and exertion, but the only way Camden can fall asleep is on his side. Our faces are close enough to each other that our noses touch, and our breaths unite us.
    When Camden closes his eyes, I reach over to him, and my fingers comb through his medium-length hair.
    “I care, Cam,” I repeat to him. “Don’t you ever forget it.”
    He opens his eyes and stares at me for a long time before he shuts them again. On a whisper, he says, “I care, too, Yan.”

THREE
    CAMDEN
    Walls and smoke surround me. The smoke has hands that lash out and grip me, throw me, hit me. Rather than choke me, they beat me, blaming me for living. The smoke then turns into them , and his hatred consumes me while her screams make me cower.
    I am nothing.
    Nothing but a worthless burden.
    A scream echoes in the distance, and I hear a boy crying into the night, begging for help. His pain, his loneliness, and fear are mine so I follow it through the thickening cloud of smoke until I’m kneeling in front of a little boy. Dark curls cover his bruised cheek while tear-filled, bloodshot eyes