Chapter 31 Spencer #2
“Stop talking,” he hisses. I open my mouth to argue with him, but the look in his eyes has me swallowing my reply. All the fight has drained out of him, and for a minute, I think I might’ve crossed a line. Rick stands on alert, and understanding dawns on me.
Someone’s coming.
Not two seconds later, Leo walks through the doorway from the living room. His eyes land on me before moving to Rick as he pauses at the end of the counter, obviously sensing the tension from a moment ago. “Am I interrupting something?”
I move back to my seat, while Rick goes back to prepping dinner.
“No. Did you need something?” Rick’s mask is firmly back in place, as if our argument had never happened. I envy his ability to do that most of the time, but I have a feeling right now, mask or not, he’s still ready to have a go at me, and it makes me feel better.
“Uhm...” Leo hesitates for a second, looking like he’s about ready to bolt. He stands looking between us a second longer, and nothing happens, he pushes on. “Jade’s got a headache, and I offered to come down and grab her medicine and some drinks.”
I shoot Rick a glare. So much for just being in her room. She’s letting them do whatever they want.
This is why I didn’t want strangers here.
Rick nods, moving to the sink to wash his hands before pulling medicine from the cabinet. “There are water bottles in the fridge,” he says, nodding to it, as he sets the bottle of pills on the counter and Leo makes his way to the fridge.
I try really hard to keep my mouth shut, but in the end, I just can’t do it.
“Next time, tell her to get her own shit. She knows where it’s at,” I snap, and yeah, I lied. I didn’t try to keep my mouth shut or hide my obvious annoyance at all.
Leo stops, hand outstretched to grab a water bottle from the fridge. He turns to look at me, rolling his eyes.
Who the fuck is this guy again? I make a mental note to look into him, especially if he’s going to be spending time here.
Something I would have already done if I’d had a heads-up.
This is all Jade’s fault, too. People think they can just talk to us however they want and get away with it because she does. I’ve noticed the shift on campus too. We're going to have to make sure everyone remembers their place, and it looks like he’s volunteering to be the first example.
“Yeah, sure, I’ll let her know next time she needs to wait to throw up so she can get her own shit, man,” he says with a snort of unamused laughter before he goes back to the water.
“What?” Rick’s voice cuts through my annoyance at this kid's fucking tone, and his words finally register.
Leo closes the fridge, his arm full of water bottles. He walks over and snags the medicine container off the counter.
“She said her head was hurting while we were working on some math. At first, I thought she was being funny because we all know she hates math, but a few seconds later, she was up and flying to the bathroom.” Leo tells Rick without a hint of the hostile attitude he just had with me.
Fuck, his problem isn’t with us; it’s just with me.
Another thing I bet is thanks to Jade.
Rick grabs one of the hand towels and wets it in the sink before leaving the kitchen without another word.
I stand debating for a moment whether I should handle Leo now or let it go to deal with him later, before I decide that later is probably best for now.
I nod him toward the door, and he heads out with me on his heels.
I’ll be damned if I give this guy free roam of the house just because the Demon got sick.
By the time we make it back up to Jade’s room, Rick’s already there, I’m sure.
I can’t see him, but I know there’s nowhere else he would be right now.
Hazel sits on Jade’s bed, looking nervously around the room, and when her eyes land on me, she quickly looks away.
It’s strange to think that once upon a time, this would’ve been normal.
She was our best friend's little sister, and because of that, we treated her as our own.
Now, it would seem that just having us all in the same room has her on edge.
Leo comes out of the bathroom a second after he enters, moving to Hazel he hands her a water bottle leaving him one left for himself. Hazel smiles up at him when he sits down next to her. Well, I guess she’s not on edge with him, which only makes me dislike him more.
I’m not sure what it is about him, but something about this guy rubs me wrong.
I stand near the door and wait. I don’t see Zan, Rick, or Trent and can only assume they're in the bathroom with Jade, but the longer I stand here, the more I wonder why I even care.
Why did I come up here? They clearly don’t need me here. Jade has more than enough people worried about her. Hell, she probably feels suffocated by all the attention.
Curiosity.
That’s what it boils down to, and as much as I hate it, I hate not knowing more. It’s what drives me forward as I step further into the room until I can see through the open door of the bathroom.
Jade sits on the ground with Zander behind her, his brows drawn in obvious worry as he rubs her back.
Trent’s leaning against the counter looking down at her with the same worried expression.
Rick stands with his back to me, and while I doubt his face shows it, I bet he’s feeling a lot like they are right now.
Jade chugs her water as Rick crouches down, offering his hand. I can’t see what he’s offering her, but I assume it’s the medicine Leo brought up.
She chugs half the bottle before she takes a breath, finally noticing his outstretched hand. I see the moment she registers the pills he’s offering. Her entire body tenses, and her eyes dart around the room as if she’s looking for an escape.
I tense in response, ready to stop her if she runs. Rick must see her panic, too, because he pulls back before offering her the bottle. She relaxes slightly but doesn’t take it.
“I wouldn’t hurt you,” he says in a low voice, but even whispering, he’s easy to hear with that deep-ass voice. They stare at each other for a long moment, and I half expect him to lose his temper and demand she take them.
Rick isn’t used to being challenged. He does things by the book, and to him, it’s simple. If you’re sick, you take medicine.
What I didn’t expect was for him to give in. But he does. I watch as his shoulders slump forward, and he lets out a sigh.
“Firefly,” his voice has more emotion than I’ve heard in a long time, other than his occasional anger, and I feel my brows rise in disbelief.
I can’t imagine Rick without that mask he’s hidden behind for so long, but with the way Jade watches him, I know it’s gone.
She watches him for a few seconds longer before she relaxes, giving him the tiniest nod.
He holds out his hand for her to grab the pills, and she swallows them down without even bothering with the water.
“Do you want to go lie down?” Zander asks, pressing a kiss to the back of her head as he continues to rub her back.
“No,” she says, shaking her head before she pushes herself up off the floor. “I need to study if I’m going to stay in school.”
She doesn’t even get all the way up before she stumbles, almost falling into the counter Trent’s perched against. He reaches out and grabs hold of her arm to steady her, and she gives him a small smile that has none of its usual effect on him.
Zander is on his feet a moment later asking if she's okay, but she waves him off, insisting she's fine.
She’s not. I can see it from here. She’s crazy if she thinks they’ll ever believe that.
Trent pulls her toward him with just the slightest tug of her arm. She damn near falls into his arms as he presses his lips to her forehead.
“She doesn’t feel warm,” he says, turning his attention to Rick, easily slipping back into old habits, but none of them seem to notice.
Rick gives a sharp nod before he’s moving toward her, and in one swift motion, he scoops her up bridal style in his arms.
Jade squeals in protest but doesn’t seem to have enough energy to fight him. Rick ignores her as he walks out into her room and over to her bed.
Hazel scrambles to move the books out of the way, throwing the covers back on the bed so Rick can settle her in comfortably.
The moment he lays her down, she’s moving, as if she’s going to get back up, but Hazel throws herself at her, and they both go down, Hazel all but laying on top of Jade.
“Lay down, please.” I didn't miss Hazel's pleading tone, even though her words were muffled with her head pressed into Jade's shoulder.
Jade must not either because she gives in.
“I’m fine. I swear, my head just hurts.” Jade protests with a huff of frustration.
“Headaches don’t typically make you throw up, Jade,” Zander says. The use of her name lets me know just how seriously he’s taking this, which is strange for him.
“Or make you look like you're a stumbling drunk. I’ve seen you down a lot of alcohol and not been that bad,” Trent adds, looking down at her with a serious look that I know firsthand he picked up from his dad.
Rick stands right at the edge of the bed watching her, and while anyone else would shrink away from his assessing gaze, she just stares back as if it’s no big deal.
“When’s the last time you ate?” he asks after a long moment, and her brows scrunch in confusion. I bite back a laugh because she was clearly ready for a fight.
I would know I’m usually on the receiving end of that look, but his question threw her off.
We all watch her as her confusion gives way, and I know before she even answers that it’s been too long.
If you have to think this long and hard, it’s never a good thing.
That would explain the dizziness, headache, and even the throwing up if she’s gone long enough.
Heading back down to the kitchen, I grab a banana off the counter and one of the many bags of trail mix Rick has in the cabinets.