14. Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fourteen
Jax
Nothing will wake you up quicker than the sun’s rays burning holes through your eyelids.
I squint against it, trying to make sense of the room, but everything’s a blur—and my shoulder’s stuck.
Frowning, I tilt my head enough to look down and… that explains it.
Allie’s red hair is scattered across her forehead, her lips parting slightly with each soft breath—and the way my heart skitters? Man, there’s nothing like it.
Instead of jostling her to wake up likethe screaming in my shoulder is trying to convince me to do, I sink deeper into the cushion.
When she told me she was a full-time nurse along with taking care of two kids, it really opened my eyes to how lucky we are to be able to play music. I know for a fact I couldn’t stomach half the shit nurses have to deal with, never mind adding sleep deprivation on top of it.
She stirs beside me, wiping her hand along her forehead while her eyes flutter open. She doesn’t move at first, still nestled right in my shoulder, before her eyes widen and she peels herself off me.
She stammers, her eyes darting around the room quickly.
“I’m so sorry,” she says, voice still thick with sleep.
I smile, bowing my head slightly. “Didn’t bother me one bit.”
“Yeah, but your shoulder must be a wreck. I move a lot in my sleep,” she says softly, gesturing to where her head was just a few seconds ago.
I shrug. “Honestly didn’t notice. I slept like a baby.”
She shifts on the cushion, creating space between us, and runs her hands down her face.
Somehow, even though we really didn’t stay up late last night, I still feel overtired. Maybe it was a mix of the sun burning my retinas nice and early, or my sleeping position.
I lean my head against the back of the sofa, staring at the ceiling fan while the blades spin rhythmically.
Turning my head to her, I point to it. “Looks like the power’s back on.”
“Thank God. At least this time I won’t nearly fall on top of you when we head downstairs.” She chuckles, but then her eyes widen. “Not—not like that,” she utters nervously.
Well, I wasn’t thinking that at first, but now I am.
I hold up my hand, trying my best to stifle a laugh. The way she gets so flustered is honestly adorable. I can already see the embarrassment creeping into her eyes. Then comes the pink tinge on her cheeks and ears.
I lightly tap both hands on my knees. “Are you ready now?” I ask.
Her eyebrows pull together forming three little lines, and it takes everything in me not to reach over and smooth them out.
“Ready for what?”
“To go downstairs,” I repeat her earlier statement. “We should probably see how much trouble they got into.”
“Oh!” She shakes her head. “Right.”
The second we hit the den, I wish I had come down here alone. I haven’t known Allie long enough to have this feeling about her, but I get the sense she’s not a fan of messes.
And this den is a fucking wreck.
Plastic cups are spilled across the coffee table, thankfully empty, followed by knocked-over beer bottles, and the sofa is even missing a bloody cushion.
I quickly scan the room searching for it before she notices, but it’s too late.
“Holy shit,” she exclaims right behind me. “It looks like they had a damn frat party with only four people.”
I turn around quickly, ready to apologize. But to my surprise, she’s actually smiling. Not the least bit upset, although her nose is crinkling while she looks around.
We walk deeper into the room, and my eyes find Ana, sprawled out on the love seat with a fuzzy Mexican flag blanket and her arm draped over her eyes.
“Uh, Jax?” Allie asks, nudging my arm softly.
I turn to look at her and see a smile dancing across her lips as she points to the corner of the room.
“Is… that normal?”
My eyes follow her finger, and I spot James fast asleep underneath the pool table.
I chuckle, unable to hold it in this time, and nod. “Only when he drinks.”
Careful not to step on the empty bottles littering my path, I walk over and swiftly tap James’s foot with mine, jolting him awake.
“Time to get up, bud,” I say, crouching beside him. “Donny boy would be so mad right now,” I add with a snicker.
“Man, fuck Don.” He groans.
A crunching sound echoes from the other side of the room, and when I look up, Allie is tucking her hair behind her ears, trying to maneuver around everything.
Then I realize we’re missing two people.
“Wait, where are Gareth and Nora?” I ask, rising from the floor.
She shrugs. “Nora probably went to bed, and Gareth must have taken the guest room.”
“Do you want to wake up Nora while I wake the beast?” I ask, hiking my thumb over my shoulder to the only closed door.
“Yes, please,” she says with a laugh.
I carefully weave my way to the door and don’t even bother knocking.
“Rise and shine—”
My feet stop moving while my eyes land on the queen-size bed, where not just one body lies—but two.
My eyes scan across the room, finding every article of their clothing thrown around it.
“Hey, Allie?” I say loudly. When she looks my way, I shake my head and add, “No need to go upstairs.”
“What do you mean?” she asks, already making her way over to me.
“I mean she’s—”
“Nora!” Allie gasps the second she pops her head into the bedroom.
Gareth and Nora sit straight up in the bed with nothing but a sheet draped over their bodies. Gareth looks completely unfazed, but Nora looks like she’s about to start crying.
“I… I…” she stammers, her eyes darting between Allie and Gareth while he stretches out his legs.
His face scrunches in mock offense. “Don’t look at me like that. I was following your lead,” he says with a husky laugh.
Nora’s gaze flicks to Allie, her face as red as a tomato. “Allie, I can explain—”
Allie tilts her head, her expression unreadable.
“Oh, honey,” she breathes out, her voice light. I can’t tell if she’s upset or holding in a laugh.
I gently take her elbow, urging her out of the room. “Come on, love. We don’t need to see that.”
By the time we make it upstairs and into the kitchen, I still can’t tell if she’s upset. That is until she starts ripping open cabinets and pulling out mixing bowls, clanging them on the counter loudly.
Okay, she’s clearly upset.
My heart is pounding in my ears, trying to figure out what exactly to do. I don’t know if she’s the type of person who needs to work them out herself, or be talked down.
She walks past me, popping open the fridge to pull out eggs and bacon while I lean against the door frame.
“Would you like some help?” I ask, raising an eyebrow when she looks at me.
Her eyes widen like she’s just as shocked as I am that I even asked.
She doesn’t even realize how crazy it’s driving me to watch her stand there in the warm light, hair slightly falling from her bun.
“That’d actually be great,” she says shyly and quickly looks away.
And just like that, we’re working effortlessly side by side like this is normal. Like we’ve been doing this our whole lives. I swear I could hold out my hand and she’d give me whatever it was I needed without me having to ask.
The frying pan sizzles as I look over and notice Allie eyeing the pan with her nose crinkled.
“I know it looks strange, but it helps with hangovers,” I say with a chuckle, shaking the pan. “All the grease from the bacon gets absorbed into the eggs. Works like a charm.”
I scoop some into a bowl, the steam rising between us, and she eyes it skeptically.
“Don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried it,” I say with a wink.
Did I seriously just fucking wink?
She thanks me quietly before taking her bowl to the kitchen table, setting it down carefully like it’s a ticking time bomb.
“I’m going to let them know that breakfast is ready,” she says.
I give her a tight-lipped smile and a nod, then move on to load the dishwasher, enjoying the last few seconds of silence before the hangover crew piles in. I can already hear them complaining about how bright the sun is and how we all need to whisper.
I’m half considering talking loudly, just to piss off Gareth like I usually do. He’s lucky Nora and Ana will also be hungover, or else he’d be in for it. Especially after the little stunt he pulled with Nora.
Breakfast goes relatively smoothly, aside from James practically falling asleep in his bowl and Nora refusing to lift her head.
Ana and I are clearing the table when Allie stands, her phone gripped tightly in her hands with a smile spreading across her lips.
“If you guys want to leave the rest, I can handle it. I just need to make a quick phone call,” she says, already backing away from the table.
“Not at all. We got it,” Ana replies, stacking the dishes.
Her smile grows a fraction larger, and she hugs her phone to her chest. “Thank you.”
The second Allie is gone, Ana blows out a quick breath, shaking her head slowly.
My brow raises, unsure if I should ask if something’s wrong or leave it alone. This is all new territory for me. I don’t make friends easily, and I’ve always been okay with that. But being around this group of people? It makes me want to actually try for once.
“Everything good?” I finally ask while running a cloth over the table.
Ana nods slowly. “I just wish I could help her more. She hasn’t been handling being away well, and I probably shouldn’t even be telling you any of this,” she admits, then turns to face me. “She deserves a hell of a lot more than what she gets.”
She places the last utensil in the dishwasher before her eyes gradually light up. “Oh, that reminds me. James and I were talking last night, and you guys are coming to the aquarium with us on Friday,” she says quickly, then scurries out of the kitchen.
Then, it’s just me. Alone in the kitchen.
And all I can think about is what Ana said about Allie deserving more than she gets.
I want to ask more, to understand more. But again, it’s a constant battle of how much is too much?
How far can I push to know her better without seeming like Gareth and that I’m just trying to get in her pants?
But, then again, we’re apparently all hanging out again on Friday. Maybe that’s my chance to ask the freaking questions this time without being afraid of my own shadow.
Fifteen minutes and one final wipe down later, I head into the living room with everyone else. My eyes quickly scan the room and land on them sitting on the sofa. Everyone except Allie.
Ana notices me first, her eyes flicking between me and the stairs repeatedly.
“Is she okay?” I mouth, making sure no one else can hear me.
She shakes her head, and my stomach drops. Before I realize what I’m doing, I’m taking the stairs two at a time.
When I reach the top of the stairs, I suddenly realize I don’t even know which room is hers. What am I supposed to do? Knock on every single door?
Then, I hear it. The faint sobs breaking through the door directly in front of me, and my chest tightens.
I tap gently on the door, inching closer to hear better.
“I’ll be down in a sec,” I hear her say on the other side between sniffles.
I push the door open anyway, slipping inside before closing it behind me without a sound. When I turn and see her, something inside me crumbles.
She’s sitting on the floor, knees pulled to her chest, back resting against the bed. Her phone’s a few feet away as if she tossed it aside. Her cheeks are streaked with tears, and my heart breaks just looking at her.
I step closer, careful not to crowd her.
“Is this okay?” I ask, voice low. “Me being here?”
She nods, and that’s all I need. I walk over and sit beside her, not too close, but enough to let her know she’s not alone.
The silence between us feels heavy, but I stay quiet. I let her breathe, let her feel whatever she’s feeling. I’m not here to fix it or ask a bunch of questions. I just want to be here for her.
She finally takes a slow breath, her shoulders shaking as she wipes at her eyes with her sleeve. My hand moves instinctively, gently tracing soft, slow circles on her thigh right above her knee.
“I miss them,” she whispers.
She looks up at me, and all I can see are her crystal-blue eyes shining with tears, and it breaks me.
“I tried calling, and he said they were sleeping,” she says, her voice cracking. “But he didn’t realize I could hear them laughing in the background.” She pauses, takes a shaky breath, then meets my eyes. “It’s like he’s trying to push me out.”
I don’t think anymore, I just act. Carefully reaching out, I gently wipe away the tear that tries to roll down her cheek.
“I’m sorry, Allie,” I murmur.
Her eyes squeeze shut, and then it’s like something inside her breaks. A sob breaks through her lips, and I lean forward, wrapping her in my arms. Pulling her close to my chest, my heart tightens while she trembles against me.
“I’m so scared they think I just up and left,” she says quietly. “That I forgot about them because I’m not there when Charlotte has a nightmare in the middle of the night. Or even Lydia. She still crawls into my bed every single morning, and now she can’t.”
Her tears soak through my shirt, but I don’t care. I hold her tighter, smoothing her hair down while I rock her slowly back and forth.
“Allie, I’ve never met your daughters, but I’ve met you,” I say gently. “The way you talk about them? There’s so much love in every word. That kind of love doesn’t disappear. I’m sure they feel it too.”
I press a kiss to the top of her head, and she clutches at my shirt like she’s afraid to let go.
I cradle her until her breathing slows, and her sobs fade.
Even through the zinging pain in my hip from the position we’re in, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be right now.
Being here for her, holding her, is enough.
What kind of asshole doesn’t let a caring mum talk to her kids? Especially a mum that cares.
I’ve never been in a situation like this, so obviously I can’t pretend to fully understand. But I know I couldn’t imagine going through this if it were my own kids. She doesn’t deserve this sort of pain—nobody does.
She slowly peels herself from my chest and wipes her eyes with the back of her hand. Her glossy blue eyes are now red and puffy with mascara smudged beneath them. And even with that, she’s still the most beautiful person I’ve ever laid my eyes on.
“Thank you for sitting with me,” she says quietly before laying her head back down on my chest.
I squeeze her tighter and smooth her hair down again. “You don’t have to thank me, love,” I murmur.
I don’t know exactly what I’m getting myself into, or how deep her hurt runs. But something tells me this isn’t a time to be walking away. That she needs someone to listen to her, desperately.
And if there’s at least one thing I’m good at? It’s listening.
To important stuff anyway.