Right There with You

by R. J. Sable

  “You mean you two weren't hiding anything from us?” Karl snapped.

  “We didn't lie to you,” I pointed out.

  “A lie of omission is still a lie, Jelly,” Ian said calmly.

  He had a point, we had intentionally hidden it from them, but that didn't make this right.

  “We were going to tell you,” I said, a little calmer. “But we wanted to make sure there was a reason to first.”

  “There's no excuse, Jelly,” Ian said firmly.

  “I'm sorry,” I choked. “I didn't want you guys to hurt him.”

  “And how'd that work out for you?” Karl scoffed.

  I scowled at him but didn't say anything.

  “Are you going to punish me as well?” I asked, my voice trembling.

  “I haven't decided yet,” Ian scowled.

  I frowned and felt my shoulders sag at the prospect of another punishment.

  “I'm kidding,” he added as he saw my reaction. “I think he's taken enough of a beating for the both of you.”

  Ian frowned as if he was thinking deeply. He looked over at Craig and Jason. I followed his gaze. Jason was sitting up now. Ian made his way over and we trailed after. All of a sudden, I wasn't sure if I could face Jason. He probably wouldn't want to see me anyway; I bet he was dying to get out of here.

  Ian leant over to the side of the sofa and grabbed a couple of beers from the fridge. He handed one to Jason who accepted it cautiously. I stood behind Karl, my hands grasping his shirt. I could see the damage to Jason's face more clearly now. His right eye was swollen shut entirely. His brow had split open and Craig had placed butterfly stitches over it. His bottom lip was swollen and his nostrils were still pretty bloody. My stomach clenched as I took in all the damage. I had to fight the urge to vomit as new tears leaked from my eyes.

  “You can consider that a Carter-family welcome,” Ian grunted, smirking slightly.

  “I'm honoured,” Jason tried to smile but winced as his swollen face protested the attempt.

  “Come on,” Ian gestured to Craig and Karl, who followed him out of the room, leaving me and Jason alone.

  I stood awkwardly in front of him, unsure of what to do or say.

  “That could have gone better,” Jason shrugged, the left side of his mouth quirking up into a smirk.

  I took my cue to throw myself at him and hug him tightly as I lost control of my emotions completely.

  “I'm so sorry,” I sobbed against his chest. “I'm so, so, sorry!”

  “Hey, Jamie,” he soothed, wrapping his arm around me. “It's okay, it's over now.”

  I garbled apologies into his chest as he stroked my back gingerly with his beer-free hand.

  “I can't believe they did this to you,” I sobbed, sitting up and looking at him again.

  “It's fine, Jamie,” he said calmly. “I told you that you were worth it and I meant it.”

  “You're insane,” I said incredulously. “And you're all bloody and gross,” I added as I placed my hand on his chest and felt the dampness beneath my hands.

  “Help me,” he said as he stood up and I slipped off his lap.

  He raised his arms above his head and I helped lift the t-shirt off of him, stepping back so I could finish the job. His chest was caked with blood so I fetched a towel from the pile and wet it under the tap. I wiped away the blood, enjoying the feel of his solid body beneath my fingers.

  “So I've been officially welcomed?” He said with his good eyebrow raised.

  “Yeah,” I frowned. “I'm not sure what that actually means.” Are my brothers giving me and Jason the okay? That seemed extremely unlikely.

  “Come on, we can't hide in here forever,” Jason said as I finished drying him off. He grabbed the towel from me and wiped it over his face gingerly. He glanced at the door and bent down to kiss me. His swollen lips felt strange against mine but it didn't stop the muscles deep inside my stomach from clenching.

  “That was brave,” I grinned as he drew away.

  “I'd take that beating ten times over if I got to kiss you afterwards,” he grinned.

  “You're insane,” I shook my head and grinned back at him.

  As we walked into the den, everybody looked up and stared at us. I stood still, uncomfortable with the attention. Jason seemed oblivious and sipped his beer. Ian motioned us over and we sat on the L-shaped sofa together with the rest of my brothers. Craig seemed to be absent from the room, together with a couple of the bunnies. No points for guessing where he is.

  Jason put his hand on my leg and I saw my brothers tense in unison. Jason smirked but removed his hand and opted to put his arm round my shoulders instead.

  “Eager for round two?” Karl growled.

  “Whenever you're ready, mate,” Jason grinned.

  I turned my head and glared at him. I'm now entirely certain he has a death wish. “Don't provoke them,” I whispered through clenched teeth.

  He gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze and returned to his beer. Karl glanced at Ian but he shook his head.

  “Gonna fight back this time?” Ian asked coolly.

  “What d'ya mean?” Jake asked. “Karl owned him.”

  “Don't be naive, Jacob,” Ian scolded. “He fought for TacCom, there's no way he didn't throw that fight.”

  I looked up at Jason, wondering what Ian meant. The grin had disappeared from his face and his mouth was now set in a firm line.

  “E, I could have taken him either way,” Karl argued, obviously affronted.

  “I don't doubt it,” Ian grinned. “But he still threw it, you must have known.”

  Karl nodded, his eyes on Jason.

  “Why did you just roll over and take it?” Ian asked, looking thoroughly unimpressed.

  “I didn't think Jamie would appreciate me kicking her brother's ass,” Jason shrugged, glancing at me guiltily.

  So, he's taken twice the beating he had to because he didn't want to upset me? I couldn't decide if it was incredibly sweet or incredibly stupid. Probably both, I admitted.

  “You're an idiot,” Ian laughed as he knocked back the rest of his beer. “Jake, refills.”

  Jake grumbled as he went to fetch more beer. I wondered idly if he'd told Ian about his new tattoo.

  “I'd best get back to Elise,” Karl said as he stood up.

  The twins both made a whip-cracking noise and everyone laughed. Karl walked behind the sofa and smacked them both on the back of their heads. They carried on laughing.

  “See you all tomorrow for brunch,” he nodded as he headed upstairs.

  Ian put on 'The Expendables' and Jake came back with an arm full of beers and passed them around. I leant into Jason's side and put my hand on his abs, enjoying the feeling of his skin against mine. Ian coughed and I removed my hand.

  Chapter 23

  Sunday, 14th October 2012

  I woke up and stretched out on the bed. How'd I get here? The last thing I remembered was being on the sofa with everyone else. I threw the cover off and looked down. I was still wearing my tank top and jeans. I pulled my jeans off, noting the bluish bruises on both my shins. I found a pair of old jogging bottoms and pulled the drawstring tight so that they hung on my hips.

  “Morning,” I yawned as I walked into the kitchen. Ian and Craig were already sat at the island drinking coffee. The clock behind them showed half past nine.

  “Thanks for letting me sleep in,” I grinned.

  “You're not the only one, everyone else is asleep in the den,” Ian said.

  “Is Jason still breathing?” I asked, hoping nothing had gone down after I fell asleep.

  “Last I checked,” Ian shrugged.

  “We had a good night after I put you to bed,” Craig added.

  “Thanks for carrying me up to my room,” I smiled at him.

  “No worries,” he smiled back, his goofy lop-sided smile that he only used when he was relaxed.

  I refilled the coffee machine and turned it on. I made a pot of tea and poured myself one. When the coffee ma
chine was done, I poured a cup ready for Jason.

  “Is Jason downstairs as well?” I asked.

  “He's asleep on the sofa in Jake's room,” Ian said as he poured himself another cup of coffee.

  “You can wake him up,” Craig grinned, looking up at the clock. “Jake ought to take his shot anyway.”

  I poured another cup and headed up the stairs to Jake's room on the top floor. I could hear the twins snoring from their rooms as I passed.

  I knocked on Jake's door but nobody responded. I opened the door slowly and when nobody protested I made my way in cautiously. Jake was sprawled out across his bed in his boxer shorts. Jason looked at me as I walked in. He was lying on his back on Jake's sofa, wearing just his colourful Björn Borg briefs. He grinned as I made my way over to him and handed him the cup. I placed the other on Jake's bedside table. I took a second to take in the damage to Jason's face and torso and winced guiltily as images of last night flashed into my mind.

  “Morning,” Jason whispered as I knelt down by the side of the sofa.

  “Morning,” I smiled tentatively, keeping my voice low. “Sleep okay?”

  “Would have slept better if you were with me,” he complained.

  I leant over and planted a kiss on his lips. They were still a little swollen. His eye had turned purple and was swollen shut. He wrapped his hand round my head, wove his fingers into my hair and pulled me back into another kiss. I smiled against his mouth as he broke off and I kissed him on the nose.

  I felt something soft hit me on the back and I saw a pillow land behind me as I turned my head.

  “Not what a guy wants to wake up to, Jelly,” Jake moaned sleepily.

  That wasn't smart. Kissing in front of my brothers was definitely not something I should repeat.

  “Sorry,” I blushed. “I brought you coffee,” I pointed to the mug, resorting to distraction techniques.

  He shot Jason a death glare but picked up the mug. Jason sat up on the sofa and grabbed his jeans off the back of it, pulling them on.

  “Thanks for letting me crash in here. We'll give you some space,” Jason said as he made his way out of the room.

  When we got to the kitchen, Elise and Karl had arrived and were sorting through about a dozen carrier bags of food. They'd bought enough bacon, eggs and sausages to feed an army, which was almost what they were intending to do, I suppose. When they saw us come in, a look passed between Ian and Jason that made me a little uncomfortable, but neither of them said anything.

  “Is Josh up?” Jason asked.

  “I haven't seen him,” I shook my head.

  “All my stuff's in his car,” he said glancing down at his still bare chest.

  “I don't mind you dressed this way,” I whispered, grinning broadly.

  Ian coughed loudly and I glanced over at him; he looked entirely unimpressed. I always suspected he could read lips but never seemed to remember until it was too late.

  “Can I help, Elise?” I asked, blushing furiously and desperate for a distraction.

  “You can sort the potatoes for the hash browns, if you don't mind.”

  I must have peeled a hundred potatoes. The sink was almost completely full of them by the time I was finished. I set about grating them all whilst Elise and Karl sorted the rest of the breakfast. Jason sat down at the breakfast bar between Ian and Craig. I eavesdropped whilst I worked.

  “We should clean those again,” Craig said, gesturing to Jason's face.

  “I'll be fine,” Jason shrugged.

  “You slept in Jake's room, they'll need disinfecting,” Craig grinned.

  Ian and Karl chuckled and Craig went to grab the first aid kit from the bathroom.

  “You got a hangover?” Ian asked Jason.

  “I only had three beers,” Jason said, shaking his head.

  “That's poor showing,” Ian frowned.

  Jason laughed and took a sip of his coffee. Craig came back in, followed by the twins who looked extremely chipper.

  “Morning,” I grinned at them as they helped themselves to coffee.

  “Morning, Jellybean,” Danny said as he gave me a hug.

  “Ow, careful,” I winced as he squeezed me a little too tight and my bruised ribs protested.

  He winked at me and took his coffee over to the others. I listened as they laughed about the night before. Jason took part in the discussion and seemed relaxed, his usual aura of control encapsulating him and giving the illusion of security despite his battered appearance. He finished off his coffee, slid off his stool, and headed towards the coffee machine.

  “I can make another pot,” I said, noticing it was empty.

  I saw Ian slap Rick on the back of the head for leaving the pot empty. Rick just grinned and rubbed his head.

  “I can manage,” Jason said, putting his hands on my hips as he stood beside me.

  “Reed,” Craig warned.

  Jason chuckled and took his hands away.

  “We need to go over the ground rules again?” Ian growled.

  “What ground rules?” Karl and I asked in unison.

  “Rules Jason needs to follow if he ever wants to be able to have kids,” Ian shrugged.

  “Or walk,” Danny added.

  “Or see properly,” Rick chimed in.

  “Or breath,” Jake grinned as he entered the kitchen.

  “Wanna fill me in?” Karl smirked as he put the sausages in the oven.

  I looked at Jason, he appeared relaxed and amused.

  “Later,” Ian grunted.

  “Shouldn't I at least be filled in?” I frowned as I turned the coffee machine on.

  “Doesn't concern you,” Ian shrugged. “Go down and wake up everyone else.” He dismissed me and turned back to his newspaper.

  I hesitated, wanting to argue that it concerned me very much, but Jason shook his head gently at me and I stomped grumpily out of the room and towards the stairs. I knew my exit was childish but I was too frustrated to care.

  The den looked like a bombsite. There were bodies strewn everywhere; on the floor, on the sofa. Rab had even fallen asleep kneeling, with his head on the coffee table. I grabbed the black bag I'd started filling the night before and set about collecting up the plethora of empty beer cans and bottles. I shook Josh gently as I passed him and he groaned and looked up at me.

  “Morning,” he said groggily.

  “Morning,” I grinned as he sat up shakily.

  “Jason still alive?” He smirked.

  “Just about,” I rolled my eyes.

  “That man has a death wish,” he grumbled as he stood up.

  I couldn't agree more. It actually worried me how unconcerned he seemed with having seven fairly well-built men around, all planning colourful ways to murder him.

  “Wanna help me wake-up the masses?” I pouted, looking around the room.

  “Gladly,” he grinned, aiming a gentle kick to Rab's leg and whacking Tony on the back as he passed them.

  I took the black bag out to the dustbin and came back to see the zombie-masses arrive into the kitchen. Somebody must have fetched Simon down from Karl's room because he was helping himself to coffee as I came in.

  “Where are the giggle-brigade?” I asked, noticing that the cage bunnies were absent.

  “I sent them home in a taxi after I put you to bed last night,” Craig said.

  “You didn't even let them sleep over?” I asked, my eyebrow raised.

  “God, no,” Craig said frowning. “If you let them sleep over they expect an engagement ring.” He grinned and a couple of the guys laughed.

  There didn't seem to be anything else I could do to help so I went and stood next to Jason's stool at the breakfast island. I looked at his swollen eye whilst he chatted to Craig, feeling immensely guilty for everything he'd been through because of me.

  “Ian, can I have a word?” I heard Jake mumble, standing behind Ian.

  I glanced at Jake, and he returned my gaze. He looked nervous. I watched as Ian followed Jake into the lounge, not
envying Jake in the slightest. It was stupid to get the tattoo before telling Ian though.

  I returned my attention to Jason. I wanted nothing more than to curl up with him on the sofa and watch a crappy film. I was suddenly desperate to be back in Leeds with him, safe and warm in his strong arms. He shifted slightly in his seat so that I could stand between his legs. I leant into him, resting my cheek against his bare chest.

  “Reed,” Craig practically growled, grabbing my arm and pulling me away from Jason. He lifted me up onto his lap and hooked his arm around my waist.

  “Don't you think you guys should tell me these rules so I don't get Jason in trouble?” I sulked.

  “Where would the fun be in that?” Craig grinned.

  I sighed and Jason shot me a sympathetic look. I opened my mouth to argue but Craig squeezed me gently.

  “Don't, Jelly,” he warned.

  “How do you always know what I'm going to do?” I frowned, turning my head to look at him.

  “'Cause I know you,” he grinned, kissing me on the forehead. “And you're very predictable.”

  I shook my head and leant back against him whilst he carried on talking to Jason.

  “You were pretty relaxed before that fight last night,” Jason said, obviously impressed.

  “I'm not always,” Craig shrugged.

  “How come you were last night?” I asked.

  “I saw how charged Brock was when he came in last night. His body language told me that he wanted to win way too badly.” Craig shrugged.

  “He gave too much away when he was warming up,” Simon chimed in, standing at Craig's side.

  Jason nodded. “I saw him drop his defence when he struck, but only for a second. A lesser fighter would have missed the opportunity,” Jason said.

  “Yeah, well,” Craig shrugged. “You have to react quickly to avoid this lot,” he grinned and looked over at Karl.

  “Jamie said Ian and Karl can take you,” Jason grinned.

  “Did she now?” Craig said, giving me a suspicious look.

  “I'm not allowed to tell lies,” I smiled sweetly at him.

  He shook his head with a smile and squeezed me gently. “Yeah, she's right,” Craig shrugged. “And the twins are way too much to handle unless you get them on their own.”