“Why’s that, Baby?” We must be alone; otherwise, he never called me that. Well, that one time he did, but I was dying at the time. It didn’t count.
“I hurt you, pissed you off. I scared you. Then guys had to hurt me to move me. You really don’t like that.” I mumbled, my forehead against the warmth of his neck. His big warm hand ran up and down my back.
“Baby...” Zeke’s voice was soft, or soft for Zeke that is. “I’m fine, don’t worry so much about me.” I felt him moving me with his arms. Then I was looking up at him. How’d he do that? Did I black out? Zeke put me down on the bed and slid his arms out from under me. I snagged a hand and tugged him down to my level. He knelt, his face near mine.
“I worry about all of you. Get fucking used to it.” I told him matter-of-factly. Then I touched his nose. “Boop.” I snickered. He smiled at me, not with teeth but almost.
“Are you really okay?” He asked in that soft voice he used with me sometimes. His eyes ran over my face looking for a lie.
“Yeah, just feeling weak and dizzy,” I grumbled. “I don’t like it.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “Don’t you have a date?” His blinked at me.
“Yeah,” He said quietly as he reached down and pulled the blankets up to cover me. “But I was worried about you so...” Zeke trailed off as he met my eyes again. Those beautiful eyes were full of shadows that I had put there. I didn’t like it. I booped his nose again.
“Go, I’m fine. See your girl.” I ordered. Riley could probably cheer him up, right? “Have lots of fun.” I snuggled down on my side facing him. There was a flicker of something in his eyes, then it was gone before I was sure of what I saw. It must be the drugs. His eyes ran over me again.
“You sure?”
“Yep,” I said in my silly voice. “There are four other dudes here. I think they got me covered. Unless they all left.” Zeke smirked down at me.
“Asher is making you something to eat. Isaac is cleaning up in the conservatory. Ethan is telling Rory you're awake and okay. Miles is talking to the doctor.” He informed me.
“See, covered. Go.” Zeke took my hand off the top of his and held it. His thumb was rubbing on the back of my hand. He looked like he was making his decision. Then he made strange half sigh half growl noise.
“If you're sure you're fine?” He asked his voice full of doubt. I took my hand from his and pointed towards the door.
“Go. And say hi to Riley for me.” I ordered him in my silly voice. He gave me a strained half smile before getting to his feet and leaving the room. I was starting to think about trying to get up again when I smelled food.
“Ally, I have cheesy food,” Asher called sweetly. I sat up slowly, I was dizzy again, but only for a second. Then I was reaching for the cheeseburger he was handing me. I took a big bite. Oh, heaven, it even had bacon. When I finished chewing, he was sitting on the side of the bed facing me, grinning.
“How did you get this by Zeke?” I asked before taking another bite. Asher chuckled softly.
“He doesn’t care what you eat right now, as long as you eat.” He pointed out. I finished chewing my bite.
“Thanks, Ash. Sorry about all this, again.” I said feeling guilty. His brow drew down, his eyes narrowing at me.
“What about?”
“I keep having problems, and you guys keep having to clean them up.” I shrugged. “It’s not really fair to you guys.” Then I realized what I was saying, what I was thinking. “What did the doc give me? Truth serum? No, I shouldn’t talk anymore.” I took a big bite of my burger as Asher chuckled at me. I needed to stop thinking about this.
“Ally, you take on our problems too.” Asher pointed out. I raised an eyebrow at him. What problems? I didn’t notice any problems. Asher grinned, his ocean eyes ran over my face.
“You don’t see our problems at all do you?” I gave him my blank face as I kept chewing. He smiled, shaking his head. He reached out and tried to brush the hair off my face; his fingers got stuck. I made a noise. “Damn Ally.” I finished that bite.
“I’m a mess right now, and my hair is usually a mess so....” I grumbled putting my sandwich down and reaching up to untangle his fingers.
“Where’s your brush?”
“At home, where all my shit is.” I pointed out sarcastically in a silly voice, picking up my sandwich again, ooh cheesy goodness. Asher got off the bed and went into the bathroom. I didn’t even care what he was doing; I had an excellent burger, and I was only half done. Asher came back to the side of the bed.
“Scoot up Ally girl, I’m going to brush that out before it gets so bad you have to cut it.” I wasn’t paying attention; he told me to scoot, so I scooted up. I was chewing another bite when Asher sat behind me. His hands went into my hair, and I got confused. Was he brushing my hair? Huh? Did guys do that? But it seemed guys do indeed do that because that’s what Asher did while I ate. He held a section of my hair and combed out the knots before going higher in that section. It was surprisingly comforting. When I finished eating, I wiped the grease off my fingers and mouth with the napkin and just sat there as he brushed my hair. I noticed he wasn’t yanking my hair at all.
“How do you know how to do this?” I asked. “Brushing long hair without it hurting I mean.”
“I have a sister, Ally. When Mom was sick, I’d brush Jessica’s hair for her. Then Mom would instruct me on how to do basic girl hairstyles.” He told me quietly. “Mom didn’t have the strength to do it anymore, so I was her hands for her.” I felt my heart melting into my feet.
“You are an amazing guy, Ash,” I mumbled as the brush ran through my hair. He snorted.
“Not really.” He said it so quietly that I almost didn't hear it
“Yeah, you are.” Then I used my bossy voice. “And don’t argue with the drugged girl. We get mean.” He chuckled. Then I thought about it. “Okay, maybe not mean. But we get snuggly, and you wouldn’t want to see that.” Asher chuckled behind me. It made me grin a little. He put the brush down, and then his hands were in my hair doing something. I couldn’t tell. Then his hands were on my shoulders, giving me a squeeze. “Okay, what did you do?” All I could feel was the mass wasn’t heavy on my back.
“A not so messy braid. It’s not a French, but it will hold a lot better than those you’ve been doing.” He said getting off the bed behind me. I blinked up at him.
“Do you still do your sister's hair?” I asked, not really knowing why. His eyes narrowed on me.
“No, I don’t think she’d appreciate it.” He admitted picking up my napkin and throwing it in the trash.
“You should offer.” I don’t know what was running my mouth today, but it was weird. “If your Mom used to do it, then you did with her...” I snuggled down in the bed. “If I had a Mom like that I’d like to remember her. Maybe it will help her remember your Mom a bit more.” Then I realized what I was saying. What was with me today? “Or not, it might just be the drugs talking.” Asher’s eyes ran over my face, his face almost frowning. “Thank you for fixing my hair, Ash.” He grinned down at me.
“Anytime Ally girl.” He turned and headed out the door. Isaac almost ran into him trying to come in.
“Tag in?” Isaac said in his excited voice. Asher chuckled and smacked him on the shoulder. Isaac threw his arms up in victory as he came in. He didn’t bother to stand next to the bed. He just jumped on and crawled up till he sat next to me, his back against the headboard. I rolled onto my back, so I could look at him.
“Hey, Cookie Monster.” My voice wasn’t so cheerful now, and the world was starting to feel less fuzzy. My body was starting to ache a bit. Isaac smiled down at me, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t like that we had to move you like that, Red.” Isaac began. “And the whole shit with the gag.… I….” He sighed.
“It’s not your fault,” I told him. “I told you too. And you had to listen.” When he went to argue, I cut him off. “Would you have moved me if I said no?”
<
br /> “God no,” Isaac said adamantly.
“See, not your choice.” I pointed out. “It was mine. Besides, I was knocked out pretty quick.” Isaac shook his head.
“Not quick enough for me.” He grumbled. “Carrying you when you were screaming was a fucking nightmare.” It probably was, thankfully I didn’t remember that much of it. But Isaac did.
“You want cuddles?” I asked sweetly, I wanted to make him feel better and touching someone always did that for the twins. He smirked down at me.
“Zeke might kill me if I touch you again today.” He warned me. I grinned at him.
“He’s gone, I sent him out to see Riley.” He chuckled quietly. Then shook his head.
“You’re hurting Red; you don’t need to be trying to make me feel better.” He pointed out.
“Painkillers are still working right now, snuggle now or lose the chance,” I said in my sing-song voice. He snickered at me, then scooted down till he was leaning back against the pillows. I scooted over and snuggled up to his side with my head on his shoulder resting. His arms wrapped around me. He smelled like oranges today. I just laid there and let him hold me. It wasn’t couple cuddling; it was friend cuddling. It was comforting, warm and safe. That was what we needed right now. After sometime my mind cleared up a bit more, and I realized we were both dating people. Oops. “Know what?”
“Hmm?” He sounded half asleep.
“Your girlfriend and my boyfriend would have a shit fit over this.” I pointed out. I felt him shrug.
“Don’t care, you’re Red. Rules don’t really count for you.” He mumbled, his face burying in my hair. I smiled at that.
“Why’s that?”
“Cause your Red, it’s what you do. You break all the rules, and it always comes out good.” Isaac muttered, yeah, he was half asleep.
“I don’t break all the rules.” He snickered in my hair.
“No, but you sure as hell bend them.” He sounded awake again. “How many girls cuddle with their guy friends to make them feel better? Even though you’re dating Dylan, you’re still snuggling with me because I feel like I tortured you today.”
“I’m just that lovable,” I grumbled at him, not entirely happy with my answer. He snickered and gave me a squeeze.
“Yes, yes you are,” he said in an irritating cutesy voice. I poked him in the ribs. “Ow. Not fair, I can’t get you back right now.” I snickered. It wasn’t long before Ethan walked in a cellphone to his ear.
“Yeah, yeah, hold your fucking horses woman.” Ethan snapped into the phone. He spotted us cuddling, and it didn’t surprise him a bit. “Your fucking girlfriend is on the phone and won’t stop bitching till she talks to you.” Isaac sighed.
“Time for that conversation then.” Isaac’s smooth voice went lower. He still sounded pissed at Cece. I moved so he could move.
Isaac rolled to the other side of the bed and got up. He took his phone from Ethan who past him to climb onto the bed with me.
“Cuddle time!” He cheered as he plopped down next to me. I smiled as I cuddled into him as I did Isaac. His warm arm went around me, giving me a squeeze. “How are you feeling Beautiful?”
“Okay.” My voice was small as I went back over what Isaac had said as a deep ache was starting to set in. “Ethan, do you think I break all the rules?” He snorted through his nose.
“Oh yeah, that’s you Beautiful.” He sounded confident. I frowned.
“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” I really had no idea. Ethan seemed to think about it.
“It can be both.” He began, his smoky voice quiet. “It can be good, like just now with my brother. He’s been tearing himself up over having to hurt you, and the gag really bothered him.” His hand moved from my arm and ran over my hair. “You knew it, and you cuddled him to make him feel better. Most girls wouldn’t cuddle a guy just to make them feel better unless they were dating him.” So, I was weird? Heh, fuck it. I’ll own it.
“And the bad?” He was quiet for a bit.
“You have a temper, and sometimes you’re a little violent.” He said gently. “So, when you break those rules it’s not so good. Like going after Trisha.” I pulled back and looked up at him like he was nuts. “Let me finish.” He said. I frowned and laid back down. “Did she hit you? Did she try to hurt you?”
“No.”
“But you went after her to hurt her.” He pointed out. I chewed my bottom lip. “What she said was completely fucked up. But she didn’t offer any physical violence, and you went after her.” I hated to admit it, but he was right. Fuck. No matter how pissed off I got, I shouldn’t have gone after her like that.
“You might have a point....”
“Some rules you can break, and it’s fine. But others you can’t.” I wondered where he heard that.
“Did Miles tell you that?” I asked suspiciously. He snickered into my hair.
“Yeah, a few years ago,” He admitted. “I was having a hard time, so Miles put a few rules in place for me to follow. It helped me with my anger issues.” I snorted. “What?”
“Everyone of us has anger issues, well, except Asher.” I pointed out smirking. Ethan chuckled.
“Yeah, you're right about that, Beautiful.” He agreed and put his arm back around me. It hurt, but I didn’t say anything. Not yet.
“I’m sorry about Faith,” I whispered.
“I’m not.” Ethan began. “She’s been a bit jealous since the beginning. It was just little things, but I thought hey, that means she likes me.” I felt him shrug. “She got pissed if I even talked to another girl. Then she got in my phone for your number, she knows where you live and all that crap about you and Miles.” He kissed my forehead. “It wasn’t all you, Beautiful. There were problems already.”
“Well, now I don’t feel so bad.” I winced as the meds really stopped working. Ethan went still.
“Beautiful?” He called, his voice worried. I rolled off him to my other side and curled up. My entire body was aching. I felt like I had the world's worst Charlie horse, but it was every muscle in my body. I focused on breathing, and not whimpering like a bitch.
“Miles!” Ethan shouted, his hand lightly went to my arm. When I didn’t smack him away, he started to stroke down my arm gently.
“Lexie?” Miles' voice came from the doorway. Then he was there, kneeling by the bed. His emerald eyes were running over me. I kept focusing on breathing. Miles' hand moved Ethan’s off me so he could feel my arm. “She’s locking up again.” Miles got to his feet pulled my arm with the line still in and hooked me back up to the banana bag.
“What do we do?” Ethan wasn’t on the bed anymore; he was standing next to Miles. His fingers spinning his rings.
“We give her a second dose of muscle relaxers,” Miles told him calmly as he walked over to the table by the bathroom. I was so focused on breathing that I barely noticed when someone else came in the room.
“What’s wrong?” Asher’s voice came from the doorway. I just kept breathing. Miles returned to the bed with a small needleless syringe in his hand. His hands were steady as he connected with one of the ports and began injecting me with the medication.
“She just needs another dose of muscle relaxers right now,” Miles explained still calm as he focused on what he was doing.
“Are you sure that’s the right dose?” Ethan’s voice was strained. There was the sound of running feet.
“What’s up?” Isaac’s voice was breathless as he came in.
“Just giving her a second dose of meds,” Miles repeated himself. “The doctor drew them up himself, said she might need them through tonight and told me how far apart to keep them,” Miles reassured them. “She was due about fifteen minutes ago, I didn’t want to give her anything if she didn’t need it.” Miles finished injecting the medicine and tossed the syringe in the trash. “Technically she doesn’t need the muscle relaxers, but the doctor said that after being seized up like that so long her muscles are going to want to go back to that for a whi
le. I thought this would be better than pain meds.” Miles squatted back down so he could look at my face. “You should be feeling better pretty soon Lexie. This stuff won’t make you loopy like the pain meds.” I gave him a thumbs up. He gave me a gentle smile. I reached out and held his hand. His thumb rubbed back and forth on the back of my hand. He didn’t seem inclined to go anywhere. Gradually over the next few minutes, my body eased up. When I relaxed into the mattress, Miles smiled. “Better?”
“Yeah.” I groaned. Asher came into my line of vision a cell phone to his ear.
“She’s fine now. Miles gave her the second dose she needed.” Asher said. It was probably Rory. I looked at Miles.
“So, I’m crashing here?” Miles nodded.
“Yes. Rory is not happy with you by the way.” Miles informed me. I didn’t really care right now. “You didn’t tell him about linking to the Veil?”
“No, I should have but I just...” I trailed off. I don’t really know why I didn’t. Too busy? Didn’t want to bother him? “It must have slipped my mind.”
“You have been really busy,” Miles admitted. “Rory brought you a bag of clothes.” I gave him a small smile.
“Thank you for taking care of me,” I said sincerely. “You seem to end up doing it a lot.” His eyes softened.
“I don’t mind Lexie. You're pretty easy to take care of.” He said gently. I narrowed my eyes at him playfully.
“Did you just call me easy?” His eyes went wide; his mouth dropped open. There was real panic there for a second. I snickered at the face he was making. When he realized I was joking, he shook his head at me.
“You are feeling better,” Miles observed smiling his big smile now.
“Yeah, I feel almost normal. The shit kicked out of me normal, but normal. Can I get up? Move around? Please?” I begged.
“Yes, you can. You just have to take the IV pole with you.” He said. “I want you to finish that bag and another before unhooking you again.” I made a face but didn’t care. I let Miles go; he moved away, and I sat up. My muscles still hurt but weren’t tight as a guitar string anymore.
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