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Chad had been staring at the ceiling while Rex and Camille slept. He had asked to have a separate room when he stayed over so he wouldn’t bother them with his chronic sleeplessness. Camille had offered her room and she could spend the night with Rex. She also told Chad he didn’t have to worry about bothering them at all. He wouldn’t.
The hero - he still considered himself a hero, though he was questioning if that was a good thing - sighed. He had to move, he decided, sitting up and slipping out of the room quietly.
He still hadn’t unlearned trying not to wake up his parents, even though he hadn’t lived with them for years. Being confused for a burglar as a five year old by two A Tier heroes would do that to you.
When he slipped through the living room, Chad noticed Pebbly, sleeping on her dog bed because she fell asleep while they were watching a movie, before noticing the figure laying on the couch next to her.
“Hey.” Chad felt guilt spiking through his system. Did Camille struggle to sleep in a shared bed? Did he accidentally make her night-
“Hello, Sweetheart,” Camille replied, smiling. “You couldn’t sleep either?”
“I’m sorry, did you want-”
“Don’t be sorry.” Her voice was always even keeled and calm. It soothed Chad. “My brain sometimes doesn’t turn off at night. I like coming into the living room and opening all the windows. You can just barely hear the sound of the street from all the way up here.”
“Oh. Okay.” Chad paused, licking his lips. “Did you… want some tea? Sometimes when I can’t sleep I make tea and hold it until it goes cold before I drink it. Is that weird?”
“It sounds lovely.” Camille sat up, looking towards Rex’s room. “Sometimes I envy them. They can sleep through a car crash.”
“It’s because their parents took them all over on errands while they slept, growing up. Better than spending money on a babysitter.”
Chad moved into the kitchen, getting chamomile and spearmint tea down alongside two mugs. Camille didn’t move from the couch, watching him over the island. “Really? I never knew that.”
Chad hummed, watching the water boil. “They were good people. Strict, but…” The kettle switched off and they started pouring into the mugs. “Decent. I think it’s hard for Rex to talk about them. They were barely old enough to be emancipated when their parents died. And then Rex really didn’t have time to process because they were… busy.” Chad picked up the mugs and took them over to the living room, not speaking again until he had sat down and given Camille her’s. “I never went to the funeral. I always regretted that. But my parents had told me I needed to get my priorities straight and to stop hanging out with someone the media wouldn’t respect. My grades had been slipping. I… I should have been there for them.”
“You should have, as their friend.” Camille took a sip of the tea, holding the mug in both hands. “But you had a good reason not to. Darling, they know that. You know they don’t blame you, right? They never had.”
“I… yeah. I know.”
“Rex told me about you two, growing up. They talked about how they were the only way you could escape that house and how Morgan used to always drive you to their place. How when Morgan ran away you learned how to take the bus.”
“The first night, when Morgan did run away, I walked there. I didn’t tell them that.” Chad went quiet for a moment. “Morgan- I get that they had to get out. But after they left it got. Worse.”
“It’s an impossible decision, your self or your siblings.” Camille crossed her legs. “But Rex told me that they weren’t about to abandon you just because your parents forced you to drop them.”
“I abandoned them, you mean.”
“I meant what I said, nothing more.” Camille sipped at the tea again. “That’s why they were adamant about becoming your nemesis. It wasn’t really about your parents and proving them wrong.”
“I know. I was the one who wanted to prove them wrong.” Chad hadn’t sipped at his tea at all, was just staring at it. “I appreciate that they never gave up on me. I didn’t deserve that. Them. You.”
“No, what you didn’t deserve was abusive parents and a shitty living situation. You didn’t deserve to be controlled for so much of your life. Rex and I aren’t something you can deserve, or earn. You just have us. Alright?”
“I didn’t mean-”
“I know what you meant, Sweetheart, and you need to get the idea that you need to earn our love out of your head. It’s not something you can earn. It has to be freely given.” She touched his hand, waiting until he looked up at her to continue. “You have earned peace. And a break. You’ve earned a place as one of the world’s greatest heroes. But love is something that you will always have in abundance. Do you think that Alex has earned Morgan’s love? Or Morgan Alex’s?”
“I still don’t understand that relationship.” Chad breathed. “No, I don’t think they earned anything. I think they fell for each other. I know you’re right. I know that.”
“But you don’t feel it yet?” She kissed his forehead. “That’s okay, Chad. Everyone is in the middle of healing. It doesn’t happen overnight.”
He nodded. “Everyone except you, I think. You’re pretty much perfect.”
“Just wait, you’ll take back those words soon enough.” She sat down her empty mug and shifted so she was laying with her head resting in Chad’s lap. Chad moved his mug to one hand and started playing with her hair. “We do love you, though, without expectation, without deserving or earning. Freely given.”
Chad nodded, finally taking a drink of the now-cold beverage. “Freely given. I love you too.”