27. Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Alex
“One of you better be fucking dying, Devon.”
Devon’s heavy breathing on the other side of the phone causes me to pause in Margot’s hallway. “Just about, man. Keith got roughed up tonight.”
I start running. “I’ll be right there.”
Within four minutes, I’m sprinting up the stairs of our house, pushing past busybodies surrounding the living room couch.
Keith’s laying there, his right eye already black, bruises forming on his jaw. I’m not sure what other damage has been caused but he stirs awake as I kneel down next to him.
“Hey, bro. What happened?”
“Couple Deltas,” he groans out, “surprised me while I was walking home.”
“What the fuck,” Kai’s voice is loud behind me. He’s standing over my shoulder, looking down at his broken brother’s body with his arms crossed and steam pouring out of his ears. “Fuck this,” he says, grabbing his keys from the mantle and making toward the door.
I jump into action, grabbing his arm before he can open the front door. “Hold on, Kai. We should get him to a hospital.”
Kai whips his arm out of my grasp. “Take him then. I need to take care of this.” He moves toward the door again but I stop him with a hand on the hardwood.
“Kai, think for a second.” I try to reason with him but I know he’s only seeing red.
“This is my fucking brother. I’m going to handle this.”
“We don’t even know who it was that did this to him. You going to fuck up the entire DE house?”
Kai scoffs in my face, “I will if I fucking have to.”
Devon comes up beside us. “Keith said it was a couple guys led by Ryan.”
“Motherfucker,” I whisper. “Motherfucker!” I scream, pounding on the door.
“So this is your fault,” Kai turns to me, venom in his stare. “You and your fucking girlfriend did this to my brother.”
I know Kai is connecting dots that don't necessarily connect, but he’s probably not that far off. Ryan was pissed as hell when he left Margot’s apartment. Clearly he was upset, but I didn’t think he’d take it this far. Physical altercations are the absolute last resort and should be avoided at all costs. It’s also a low fucking blow to go after one of my brothers when his real issue is with me.
“Kai, wait—”
Before I can get another word in, Kai rounds a right hook directly to my cheek. I didn’t see it coming so it made contact with a sickening crunch. Devon’s got Kai’s arms held behind his back before I’m able to even blink my vision back into focus.
“This is all your fucking fault!” Kai spits as Devon drags him upstairs.
Kai’s sputtering quiets when his bedroom door closes, leaving the room with an eerie silence. All eyes are on me as I try to piece together what just happened. Kai hit me. He hit me hard. He hit me like he wants to hit Ryan.
Keith groans from the couch, breaking me from my trance. I don’t have time to deal with Kai, I need to take care of this brother before I deal with that one.
Two other brothers are standing around Keith. “You guys help me get Keith into the car, I’m taking him to the hospital.” The guys jump into action, gently pulling him from the couch as I hold the door open for them. No shot in hell did I imagine my night would turn out this way. I should be cuddled up with Margot right now, not nursing an aching face, a broken brother, and a wounded heart.
Seven hours, two broken ribs, two black eyes, one concussion, and one bruised jaw later, Keith and I collapse onto our own beds to finally get some sleep. Even though it’s morning and I’ve got class in about an hour, I can’t see myself going anywhere else today. Especially with this shiner on my face.
I know I need to talk to Kai and sort this out but I just can’t deal with it right now. I have no idea where his head is at, he’s been out of it for weeks.
Margot has called a few times and texted even more. I know it’s not fair of me to leave her in the dark, especially after what transpired between us last night but I need to get to the bottom of the whole situation before I tell her anything. I need to know exactly what happened and how to take care of it and I would like to do it without bringing her into it at all.
I look at my phone and see her latest text.
Not that I care but can you just throw a flag to let me know you're not dead
Chuckling, I send her a white flag emoji before turning my phone on “Do not disturb” and promptly passing out for six hours.
The midday sun crests through the window when I wake up again and I know it’s past noon. Checking my phone, I see that Margot has “liked” my emoji message but sent no more after. She’s probably pissed about my leaving and then sudden disappearing act, and I’ll explain it all to her once I get it sorted out in my own head.
In the meantime, I need to find Kai.
Taking a deep breath, I open my bedroom door and walk smack into Keith, who grunts in pain.
“Hey, you just waking up too?” He asks, his face in a grimace.
I nod. “How are you doing?”
Keith lets out a breath. “Sore but mostly okay. Confused.”
“Yeah, I think it’s time we sort it all out.” Clapping Keith on the back, he winces and I apologize quickly as we make our way downstairs. Just as I’d hoped, Kai is sitting on the couch, a basketball highlights reel on the TV and his nose buried in his laptop. He does a double-take when he sees us both coming down the stairs but doesn’t move from the couch.
Slowly, Kai closes his laptop as we approach. “You good, Keithy?” He says the nickname with a gentle smile but it doesn’t reach his eyes.
It doesn’t wound me that he asks after his brother first. They are twins, after all. But, from the way he hasn’t yet been able to meet my eyes, I can tell this is going to be a longer recovery for him and me.
“Yeah, I’ll live,” Keith replies, gently sitting down on the other end of the couch. There’s a space left open in the middle, but there’s not enough money in the world that would encourage me to sit there right now. I opt instead for leaning against the mantle across from the couch.
“I remember more of what happened,” Keith says, his voice small. Neither one of us speak, giving him the floor and as much time as he needs.
“I was walking from campus, lost track of time in the library…” His code for hanging out with that football player he’s into. Again, we both allow him to take his time telling the story. “I was just at the corner when a car pulled up next to me. It all happened so fast. I was knocked in the back of the head and then hit in the face so hard, I saw stars.”
Keith takes a deep breath and looks over toward Kai whose face is scrunched up in anger. “I fell to the ground. They kicked me a few times in the stomach then once more in the face and that’s all I remember. I woke up on the couch when you came in.” Keith nods his head toward me.
“Fucking Delta scum,” Kai spits.
“And you definitely know Ryan did it?”
“Of course he fucking does. You think he’s gonna lie about it?” Kai puts his laptop on the table but doesn’t stand from the couch.
“I definitely saw Ryan’s face. It was the last face I saw,” Keith adds. “There was a lot of taunting and yelling. No idea what they were saying, but it was loud and only got louder before I passed out.”
Pinching the top of my nose with my fingers, I sigh deeply.
“How did I get to the house?” Keith asks.
Kai reaches out, gripping the top of Keith’s knee. “I found you on the front lawn all battered up. Took three guys to drag your fatass inside.” Kai laughs and Keith smiles. I suddenly feel like I’m intruding on an intimate brotherly moment.
“Well,” Kai says expectantly, finally looking me in the eye. “What the fuck are we going to do about this?”
I blink but don’t respond. Because I have no fucking idea.
Kai and I seem to form an unspoken ceasefire as we brainstorm how to handle this situation. Devon had come home during our planning session, bringing a six pack of beer and two pepperoni pizzas. It took the smell of melted cheese to remind me that I haven’t eaten since before I went to Margot’s apartment last night.
I can’t believe that was last night. I can’t believe that last night I was kissing Margot Davis. That I was about to do so much more with Margot Davis. It seems like a lifetime ago. I still haven’t been able to process it all with what happened once I got home.
But something else that I realized while all of this was going on, I miss her. Usually I go half the school week without seeing her and I hardly bat an eye about it…hardly. But this? It’s been less than twenty-four hours since I’ve last seen her and I already want to see her again. Hold her again. Touch her unreasonably soft skin again. Hear her wild thoughts about nineties rom coms and have her explain to me yet again the difference between MLA and Chicago style formatting. I just want to kiss her–
A smack to the back of my head breaks my reverie.
“Your girlfriend is here,” Devon announces before sliding over on the couch and laying down behind me, effectively shoving me off. I give him a dead leg before I go get the door.
“Jesus Christ,” Margot says as a greeting, her hand covering her mouth.
“This ain’t church, baby,” I say with the swagger of a long dead Elvis. Leaning against the doorframe, I cross my arms and wink, with some effort.
Margot, of course, sees right through me. Stepping forward, she gently touches my face with her fingertips. “What the hell happened to you?”
I take her hand, kiss her palm gently and then drop her arm back down. “Come upstairs, I’ll explain.”
Margot follows up blindly through the house, passing most of the brothers, including an apologetic looking Keith and a mean looking Kai. When we get upstairs, I close my door behind us and lock it for good measure.
“Did you get in a fight with Keith?” Margot asks immediately.
I shake my head but don’t elaborate on that point. “No, I didn’t.” With a sigh, I sit on the edge of my bed and motion for Margot to take the spot beside me. With hesitance, she crosses the room and takes the seat.
“Alex, you’re freaking me out.”
“Something happened last night and we’re still trying to piece together parts of it but it seems like Keith got jumped by some DE guys.”
Margot’s hand shoots up to her mouth again. Her eyes widen, and I can’t help but notice how deeply blue they are. And as they start to water, they resemble oceans. I don’t make her ask anymore questions as I continue.
“Devon had texted and called and that’s why I left your apartment so abruptly. When I got home, I found Keith beat the fuck up on the couch and I took him to the hospital where we spent most of the night waiting on exams and tests and all that bullshit.”
Margot blinks a few times as she takes in the information.
“But wait, how did you get a black eye? And where was Kai that whole time? Why didn’t he go to the hospital with Keith?”
“Kai was here, but he was too upset about it to really think straight…” I trail off, motioning briefly toward my face. Margot gasps again and I almost chuckle at the dramatics she’s bringing to the situation.
“Kai punched you? Why?”
I put my hand on her thigh, to relax her. To relax me. “It’s a long story that we don’t have to get into now. I’m sorry that I ran out on you last night and kept you in the dark all day. That was shitty of me.”
Margot rubs my arm and scoots ever so closer to me. “It’s okay, Alex. I can’t believe you were going through all this and I sat in class wondering if you were regretting everything we did last night.”
Her voice gets smaller and smaller by the time she finishes her sentence and she turns her face to hide but I don’t let her. Gripping her chin, I pull her toward me and place a not so gentle kiss on her lips.
“Don’t ever think that. I told you not to overthink it, didn’t I?
“Yes, but—”
I kiss her again. “Didn’t I?”
She smiles against my lips. “Yes.”
I kiss her again before pulling back to meet her eyes. “Good, so it’s time you start listening to me, woman.”
Margot rolls her eyes but leans against me, allowing me to wrap my arms around her like I’ve been yearning to for hours.
I can’t see her face but her voice is small again when she speaks. “Did Devon call me your girlfriend?”
I freeze. “He was just yanking my chain.”
“Right, of course,” Margot responds far too quickly. “Obviously.” She sits up, a brilliant smile on her face and you’d think I’d just told her it was Christmas morning. The look confuses me but I don’t push it for now.
“Look, I didn’t mean to just drop by unannounced, I just wanted to see if you were okay and now that I have the proof that you are, I can head back to the library,” she stands to get her bag, “It’s time to submit the first part of the Times internship contest. I need to do a write up of our project and then send in the first two episodes. According to the website, I’ll know by the end of the weekend if I’ve made it to the second round.”
“You will.”
“You’re so sure.” She swats at me playfully but there’s trepidation in her voice. Before she can move out of reach, I grab her arm and pull her to standing in front of me, locking her lithe body between my knees.
“Yes, I am,” I say firmly, placing a kiss on the tip of her nose. Margot lets a little tension out of her shoulders, whether she realizes it or not. I calm her. The knowledge that something I do can make her feel even a little bit more confident sends a jolt of energy up my spine. I sit up straighter, kissing her with a passion she’s not expecting but not opposed to, based on how her body reacts. She winds her arms around my neck, pulling me closer and I want to sink my teeth into the soft skin of her neck. Squeezing my eyes shut, I wince as I’m reminded of the shiner my so-called best friend graced me with last night. Margot pulls back.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” she asks, placing gentle fingers on my bruised face. The concern in her gaze is clear. She’s worried about me. I pull her fingers away, kissing the tips of each one before letting her hand fall to her side.
“I’m fine, sunshine. You don’t gotta worry about me.”
She doesn’t look convinced but she nods just the same, clearly appeasing me.
“I’ll let myself out,” Margot says, rubbing her hand down my arm one more time and then moving toward the door. “I’ll see you Saturday?”
I laugh, standing to grab her under her butt, taking her entirely by surprise and lifting her so her face is level with mine. With my available hand, I grip the back of her neck and kiss her again so fiercely it leaves us both breathless. Pulling back, I rest my forehead on hers for a brief moment before placing her back on the floor again.
“You’ll be seeing me way sooner than that, sunshine,” I reply, kissing her forehead and then giving her a swift smack on the ass as she walks out the door.