35. SIMON
SIMON
“ I ’m glad you’re okay, Simon,” Jules says to me from the driver's seat while I lay on my side in the back of the car. I thought I would feel happy when they came, relieved to be leaving, but I feel nothing. A dead void in place of my soul.
“Where are we going?” I ask quietly. I’m so tired.
“To the airport. We’re leaving as soon as the guys are done. We have our own section for private planes. Noah really pulled through for us, I doubt we would've been able to get to you so fast otherwise.”
“Great,” I say. So lucky.
“Simon, it's okay to show emotion after what you’ve been through.”
“Can we just not talk about it? I can’t talk about it, not with you or the others, I just can’t.”
“Okay. Aaron is excited to see you.”
“At least his incessant talking will take my mind off things.”
Jules laughs.
“Why isn’t he with the others? I thought he would be in on this.”
“Nah. Lev wouldn’t allow it, being in a different country and not knowing who we’re dealing with. He wasn’t happy being left behind.”
“Lev’s right. He’s doing the right thing not taking someone he cares about into a bad situation. Knowing Aaron, he would make it worse.”
Speaking of Aaron. We’re here.
I pull myself up with difficulty, into a seated position.
I thought we were going to the main airport, but this looks like some small private airfield.
Two shiny jets are parked to the side of a small building.
One silver and the other white with a red stripe down the side.
Are they both Noah’s? I knew he was rich, but this is another level.
Jules comes around to my side of the car and helps me out. Just as we move toward the entrance, a dark haired rocker boy comes running outside like a labrador greeting its owner. Aaron.
“Simon, they got you,” he says, bounding towards me.
“Don’t rush at me and don’t touch my back,” I say, holding my hand up to stop him from hugging me.
“Shit. I’m sorry they did that to you. Hopefully Carlos will do worse back. I’ve asked Lev to film it for us, so maybe we can watch it on the plane ride back,” he says, that joker smile brightening his face. He’s so fucked up, and I like it. It's nice to have normal again.
“Let’s get inside,” Jules says, and when we walk in, Chase stands from the sofa to greet me.
I don’t know Chase that well as we only briefly met in passing the last time him and Noah were in town.
He’s much more tanned than before and his light brown curly hair is fuller than it was.
The tan makes those blue eyes pop. He looks like a surfer boy. Happy. Whatever that means.
“Hey Chase,” I greet, as Jules sits me down. I whimper at the contact of my back against the sofa, the familiar sensation of stretching skin burns through me.
“Hi Simon. Do you want a drink?”
“I’d love a cold glass of water, please.”
Chase returns with a tall glass of water with a straw, and I gulp it down, enjoying the cold bite that quenches my thirst. I can feel their eyes on me. They want to ask questions, but are unsure. They want to advise me but I don’t want to hear any of it.
“I’m gonna try and sleep until they get here,” I say, handing my empty glass back to Chase.
I manage to maneuver myself onto my side, the pain in my back has become my friend.
I’m used to its presence. As I close my eyes, immediately the sound of the whip fills my ears and my hands begin to shake. I just want to fucking sleep.
“Hey, try these,” I open my eyes and Aaron is crouched next to me, holding his headphones and music player.
“They helped me when…you know…my head was too loud. Trauma and shit.”
I look at him for a moment and I remember all the breakdowns he has suffered through after what his brother did to him. Trauma. Lev had mentioned that Aaron used music to help him sleep and disconnect. I suppose it's worth a try, and I take them off him.
“Thanks,” I say, placing the buds in my ear and pressing play, hoping for some miracle that I can get a peaceful sleep.