Page 102 of Should the Sky Fall

Ellis looks at him for a moment, his eyes widening. “Jesus Christ. Don’t tell me you’re enjoying this.”

“Enjoying what?” Dawson snaps. “Babysitting? Keeping an eye on him at all times in case he hurts himself? Being confused out of my fucking mind because I don’t know how to act around him?”

Ellis sighs, and his shoulders slump. “Dawson, if it’s too much for you, I told you I can—”

“No.”

“Dawson—”

“You worry about the company. I’ll worry about Cal. Not like I have anything better to do.” He didn’t mean to say the last part out loud. Ellis’ intense stare is highly unnerving. “What’s your problem, anyway? Are you upset that your brother isn’t an asshole for once?”

Ellis grabs Dawson’s arm. His hold isn’t painful, but it reminds Dawson of things he’d rather forget. “My problem is that I worry.”

“You don’t have to worry. I’m keeping an eye on Cal.” When he tries to pull away, Ellis grips him tighter, panic starting to rise in his body.

“Not Cal,” he says. “I worry about you. I didn’t like it in the first place when you wanted to do this on your own.”

“Yes, I remember. You didn’t want me to be alone with Cal because of all the possible…side effects that come with memory loss. As you can see, he’s harmless.”

“You’ve let your guard down, haven’t you?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“What are you doing?”

They both startle, neither of them having noticed that Cal has moved. Standing behind Dawson, he frowns at Ellis’ hand and says in a low, dark voice, “Let go of him. Now.”

Ellis slowly removes his hand, watching Cal warily as he takes a step back.

Later, when he’s alone and not as overwhelmed, Dawson will go back to this moment and try to dissect why feeling Cal’s presence behind him made him relax. Or why hearing that growly voice ordering Ellis to let go sent a shiver through him, making him want to press himself against Cal for protection. There’s something different about his voice. Dawson’s never heard it like this. It sounds almost…familiar but also not. At least it’s not how Cal normally sounds.

But he can pick that apart later.

“We were just talking,” Ellis says.

“Dawson was upset.”

While that’s not wrong, Dawson should do something. He should step in before the situation escalates. “It’s fine. We had to discuss some stuff. Boring stuff.”

Cal doesn’t look like he quite believes him, but at least he’s not making things worse.

“I think I should go,” Ellis says. “I still have some unpacking to do.”

Dawson is still annoyed with him, but now he feels bad.

“Stay. You just got here. You can unpack anytime.”

Ellis opens his mouth, then stills as something behind Dawson catches his eye. “Was that there before?”

Dawson turns around to see Ellis is pointing at one of his paintings. Oh man. “Um…”

“We hung it up today. Dawson painted that,” Cal says, sounding so damn proud Dawson doesn’t know what to do with himself.

Ellis’ brows shoot up. “You painted that?” He looks around, noticing there are more, then goes to have a closer look. “Blimey. Those are great. I knew you were an artist, but…” He turns to look at Dawson. “Are you selling your art?”

Dawson swallows, starting to feel claustrophobic. “No. Never got to do that.”

“You totally could,” Ellis goes on. “Do you have enough pieces for an exhibition? I know a guy who could set you up—”