Cam had always been a light sleeper, but when he woke up at 4 in the morning, he was met with a scene that sent his mind racing. He stepped into the hallway, his eyes adjusting to the dim light, and froze as he saw Evan and Roxy asleep on the couch, their shirts both off. Evan's hand was resting just above Roxy’s waistband, hovering lightly over the fabric, an unintentional gesture, but it still sent a wave of discomfort through Cam. He blinked, trying to process what he was seeing, but then his gaze shifted to something else.
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Both Roxy and Evan had claw-like marks on their left arms, thin but noticeable. The marks weren't deep—nothing that would indicate self-harm—but they looked like they’d been scraped in a frantic, panicked moment. Cam knew that both of them had a history with self-harm, but these marks didn’t fit with that. It was a strange, unclear situation, especially considering the close proximity in which they slept.
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His eyes then darted to Roxy’s jeans, where her pocket knife was tucked into the front waistband, an unusual place for it but still something Cam was used to seeing. It wasn’t uncommon for her to carry it there, though it did make him uncomfortable when it was that close to her body. But then, he caught sight of something even stranger—Evan’s pocket knife. The one he had taken from Evan a while back and hidden to keep it out of his reach, safely away from his self-harm urges. It was right there, beside him, tucked into Evan’s waistband.
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Cam’s heart started to race as the dots began to connect. It wasn’t a cut, not the kind of self-harm that had marked both of them before. No, this was something different. Something that felt… off. His mind involuntarily went to darker, more uncomfortable places. But even as that thought crossed his mind, he quickly dismissed it. Evan would never do that—not to Roxy. Not even to his ex-girlfriends.
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Evan had always been a mature, responsible person, and though Cam sometimes struggled with Evan's moods and the way he carried his history, he knew better than to jump to conclusions. Evan was still Roxy's protector, her safe space, and they had a bond that went beyond anything Cam could truly understand.
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Cam’s mind snapped back to the two of them lying there. He could tell that both of them had likely had some kind of anxiety attack during the night—sweating through their clothes, the marks on their arms, the signs of distress that had come from their shared struggle. They were both in deep, emotional turmoil, and whatever had happened in the quiet of the night had nothing to do with anything more than their own demons.
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Cam took a deep breath, feeling the tension in his shoulders. He couldn’t do much right now, and he wouldn’t invade their space. All he could do was let them rest, knowing they were struggling in their own way. But still, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right. The marks, the knives, and the strange, intimate way they were sleeping... It wasn’t something he could just ignore.
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Shaking his head, he backed away from the room, retreating to his own space, his mind still unsettled.
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